Estonia had the right to stop the jaguar shadow fleet tanker under international law, since he was walking without a flag - an expert • The Insider • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive
On May 14, a marine incident with the participation of the Jaguar tanker took place in the Gulf of Finland, which, according to Ukrainian intelligence and Greenpeace, is part of the Russian shadow fleet. The ship following the Port of Primorsk, according to the Z-channels, was intercepted by the significant forces of the Estonian Navy, including the Rayu patrol boats (confirmed by the Marine Traffic Service) and Kurvitz, in international waters. It was argued that the Estonian military tried to force the ship to change the course and enter the territorial waters of Estonia. According to the video, at a certain stage, the tanker was already in Estonian waters, after which the Estonian ships continued to support it in neutral waters.
The Z-channels claimed that the Estonian side made two attempts to land the landing group from a helicopter aboard Jaguar, but the crew, producing maneuvers, managed to avoid landing and continued its way. According to Russian sources, the Su-35 fighter, who accompanied him to Russian territorial waters, was sent to the aid of the tanker. This case continues a series of such incidents - earlier, in April, the Estonian Navy detained the Kiwala tanker, and in January the German authorities confiscated the Eventin tanker from the Russian “shadow fleet”.
The Norwegian military analyst Thor Isaveren, in the commentary of The Insider, noted that, according to the latest data, Estonia had every right to verify the Jaguar status, according to international sea law:
“Jaguar, according to AIS, was sent to Primorsk, and the ships that follow there rarely go directly to the port, and usually spend some time in an anchor parking lot in waiting for their turn. At the same time, having reached Russian territorial waters, the Estonians were forced to let go of the ship, but I suspect that the P-6732 Navy patrol boat followed Jaguar, while it was possible.
As for the relations of NATO and Russia, this episode and possible future attempts to redirect or stop the vessels going to Russia can help increase tension in the Baltic region. Much will depend on how the Russians react - physically, not rhetorically. They can begin to accompany individual vessels or strengthen patrolling in key narrow places to be able to intervene. However, there are too many tankers so that they can accompany most of them constantly.
The intervention of Russian ships and aircraft in such situations can lead to incidents that increase tension, and it seems that this time we got off just a violation of airspace. The deterioration of the situation in the Baltic region is not a surprise, and many, including the Danish military intelligence of FE, made such grades publicly.
Subsequent statements from the Estonian side to a large extent confirm my observations and what we saw on the video. There is one key aspect - Estonians claim that the ship did not have a state flag, that Gabon excluded it from his registry when Jaguar fell under British sanctions. And this is already a legal justification for the operation. Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Laws gives a military ship of any country the right to determine the actual state of the flag and the status of a vessel suspected of the absence of state affiliation. According to the latest comment, the intention was to direct Jaguar to an anchor parking lot and investigate its status, which corresponds to the convention and what they did with the Kiwala tanker in April. Estonians also confirm that the Russian Su-35 was sent to intervene in the situation. ”
