Ukraine seizes Russian "shadow fleet" vessel in Odesa Port PHOTO

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained and impounded a foreign cargo vessel in Odesa that officials say was part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” and involved in the illicit export of Ukrainian agricultural products from the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula.

According to the SBU, the ship’s owner is under Ukrainian national-security sanctions and had repeatedly attempted to evade them by changing the vessel’s name and listing nominal beneficiaries in third countries.

The vessel entered Odesa port under the flag of an African state, allegedly to load a consignment of steel pipes.

Investigators established that, prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, the ship had called at the port of Sevastopol at least seven times to take part in illegal exports on behalf of the Russian Federation. In January 2021, it reportedly transported nearly 7,000 tonnes of grain from Crimea to North Africa in breach of Ukrainian law.

At the time of the seizure, the captain and 16 crew members — all nationals of several Middle Eastern countries — were on board. Searches uncovered documents and navigational materials that the SBU says confirm the vessel’s unauthorised voyages to ports in the occupied territories.

The SBU has opened a criminal case on several counts, including treason and financing activities aimed at undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The vessel has been formally arrested and will be transferred to Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) for further handling.

At the end of November 2025, Ukraine intensified its campaign against Russia’s covert maritime network by striking two tankers from the so-called “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.

Naval drones hit the vessels Kairos and Virat as they were travelling toward Russia’s Novorossiysk port, inflicting serious damage and leaving both ships inoperable. Their crews, made up of international seafarers, were safely evacuated after fires broke out on board.

By Aghakazim Guliyev