KAPITAN SCHEMILKIN

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Russian ship disguised its presence near Malta by claiming it was in Greece

The 'Kapitan Schemilkin' has been tracked by an NGO plying the waters around Malta in a suspected training exercise for busting EU and G7 oil shipment sanctions imposed against Russia. The AIS signal of the tanker was found to have been tampered with to make it appear as though it was moving in circles around Greece when, in actual fact, it was moored offshore east of Malta, after which it is suspected of having delivered fuel to Northern Cyprus. The findings by Global Fishing Watch were revealed just as speculation was rife that Russia had created a shadow fleet of more than 100 tankers to transport crude oil. The measures came into effect on Dec 5, 2022,, and Russia has been seeking ways to circumvent an EU ban on seaborne oil imports and a G7-led initiative to impose a price cap on Russian crude shipped elsewhere. The tanker first visited an offshore mooring near Malta, where it stayed between May and July and then called at the Teknecik power plant in Northern Cyprus in August. GFW discovered that the vessel made two trips using position-concealing methods created and favoured by Venezuela and Iran, both of which have been banned from exporting their oil products. It was found that in both cases, the tanker had given bogus positions through its AIS transponder to show it was sailing around in circles in Greek waters when, in reality, it was moored near Malta and at the Northern Cypriot power plant. GFW also discovered that when the ship claimed to have been off Greece, its signals were being picked up by telecommunications satellites over different parts of the Mediterranean. GFW used European Space Agency imagery to prove the 'Kapitan Schemilkin' was not where it was claiming to be. The ship’s AIS track showed two distinct false locations, in red, between May 28 and July 12 and from Aug 16 and 21. The likely real location showed it was at the Malta Outer Port Limit and the Teknecik power plant in Northern Cyprus. A vessel of the same size not broadcasting a position having been sighted off Malta and then in Northern Cyprus in photos taken by Earth imaging company Planet Labs. According to SkyTruth, which worked on the project with GFW, the tanker continued to broadcast its real destinations of Malta and Northern Cyprus and estimated times of arrival while simultaneously broadcasting false coordinate positions. The tanker, however, was seen with satellite imagery for weeks at an anchorage offshore Malta, after which it carried out a likely fuel delivery on Aug 19 and 20 at the Teknecik Power Plant in Northern Cyprus, occurring at a time of alleged irregularities and manipulation related to persistent power outages and the renewal of a contract for supplying the power plant. The ship is owned by the Rostov-based Rechmortrans, which, according to the FT, shares a director with a company on which the US imposed sanctions in 2021 after one of its tankers made two trips to Venezuela.