On Tuesday at 17:10, officials of the Tax and Customs Board, in cooperation with a police special unit and the navy, detained the cargo vessel Baltic Spirit, sailing under the Bahamian flag and heading for Russia, near Naissaar. There is reason to believe that the vessel may have been used for smuggling. The police special unit K-Commando boarded the ship, after which the vessel was detained under national supervision for the purpose of carrying out a customs inspection.
The ship’s crew did not offer resistance.
To board the container ship, the K-Commando used a helicopter from the Police and Border Guard Board’s aviation unit and the navy vessel Raju. The operation was additionally supported by the navy ship Admiral Cowan and the state fleet’s pilot boat Ahto-26. The Transport Administration is also involved in the operation.
The operation is ongoing, and in addition to the K-Commando, officials from the Investigation Department of the Tax and Customs Board are on board the vessel, carrying out initial inspection procedures on site.
The ship was en route from Ecuador to St. Petersburg, Russia. It entered Estonian waters for bunkering. At the time of the initial customs inspection, the vessel was located at an official anchorage. According to information available to the Estonian Navy, the vessel is not part of the Russian “shadow fleet” nor is it subject to European Union sanctions.
Estonian authorities detained a container ship suspected of smuggling
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The Investigation Department of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, in a joint operation with the police and the navy, detained a container ship sailing under the Bahamian flag in Estonia’s internal waters, which may be linked to smuggling from Ecuador.
