New Syrian government allows Russian ship into Tartus port after two weeks of drifting offshore

The new Syrian government has granted permission for the Russian vessel Sparta II to enter the port of Tartus. It is likely that the ship will retrieve part of the Russian military equipment and machinery gathered in Tartus from across the country. According to MarineTraffic data, Sparta II broke from its drift and headed toward the port on Jan. 21 at approximately 6 p.m. (GMT +3), arriving in Tartus at 8:35 p.m.

From Jan. 5 to 8, the roll-on roll-off ship Sparta II was seen “circling” approximately five nautical miles (9.2 km) off the coast of Tartus. On Jan. 8, reports confirmed that the new Syrian authorities had begun patrolling the waters in the area. Around the same time, Sparta II moved further out — to a distance of 15.6 nautical miles (29 kilometers), just beyond the 12-nautical-mile (22 kilometers) limit of Syria’s territorial waters. The vessel then shifted closer to the shore once again.

Based on satellite images from space technology firm Maxar, which were shared by Russian pro-war channels, other Russian vessels off the Syrian coast included the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, as well as the landing ships Ivan Gren and Alexander Otrakovsky. However, these military vessels are not visible on MarineTraffic. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst MT Anderson, known for regularly sharing Maxar satellite imagery, pointed out that a satellite image from Jan. 6 also captured the Russian landing ship Admiral Grigorovich, positioned about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the port of Tartus at the time.

The images also revealed Russian equipment and military transport gathered from across Syria — at the port, ready to be loaded.

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