Sanctioned Russian tanker cannot be confiscated, German court rules

German customs may not seize and confiscate the Eventin oil tanker, which was wrecked in the Baltic Sea off Germany in January and is considered part of Russian efforts to circumvent sanctions over the Ukraine war, a court said on Thursday.

The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) said there was "reasonable doubt as to the legality of the confiscation measures," as it was unclear whether the ship had had authorization to enter and leave the EU despite the sanctions, due to an exemption applicable in emergencies.

The ruling by the BFH, the federal court of appeal for tax and customs matters, was handed down in preliminary interim proceedings and could be challenged further in main proceedings.

The Panama-flagged tanker is one of more than 550 ships in the so-called Russian shadow fleet that are subject to EU sanctions due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, banning them from entering EU ports.

The Eventin drifted in the Baltic Sea off the German island of Rügen for hours in January, unable to manoeuvre after all of its systems failed.

German rescue teams towed the tanker with its 100,000 tons of oil to an anchorage off the town of Sassnitz on the island, where it remains.

German customs subsequently seized and confiscated the ship and its cargo.

According to the BFH, the tanker had been on its way from Russia to India, which continues to purchase Russian oil despite the war, with around 100,000 tonnes of oil on board.

The owner of the Eventin, Laliya Shipping Corp., based in the Marshall Islands, filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice against the vessel's inclusion in the sanctions list, which came more than a month after the accident.

The plaintiff has stated that the ship did not intend to transport sanctioned oil products into the European Union at any time.

The fact that the ship ended up in German territorial waters "occurred involuntarily due to a technical defect," according to court documents.