German court: Stricken tanker loaded with Russian oil cannot be seized

German customs authorities cannot seize a tanker loaded with Russian oil that suffered damage in the Baltic Sea last year for the time being, after expedited legal proceedings were discontinued.  

The Federal Customs Administration must await a decision in the main proceedings, said the Hamburg Finance Court - which handled the expedited case.

The Eventin suffered a serious accident in the Baltic Sea in January 2025 when all systems on the 274-metre-long vessel failed. 

The tanker, loaded with 99,000 metric tons of Russian oil, drifted unmanned for hours in heavy seas before German rescue teams were able to secure and tow it. 

It has been moored off the island of Rügen ever since. The European Union subsequently listed the vessel as part of Russia's shadow fleet, which Moscow uses to circumvent sanctions.

The owner took legal action against the decision, arguing that the tanker entered an EU port solely because of a technical fault. 

He claimed he had "at no time intended to transport sanctioned oil products into the EU." 

The legal dispute is ongoing, and the vessel remains stranded off Sassnitz - much to the annoyance of the government of the north-eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which had demanded that the Eventin be removed before the tourist season began.