SBU Detains Russian “Shadow Fleet” Vessel in Odessa port

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained and arrested a foreign vessel in Odesa that was part of the so-called Russian “shadow fleet” and involved in the illegal export of Ukrainian agricultural products from temporarily occupied Crimea.

The vessel to be the 1992-built, 8,224 dwt, Guinea-Bissau flagged Gladius (IMO: 8919879).

The ship was previously called Aminah Star and was flagged with Palau, but it changed name and flag on October 30 according to Automatic Identification System data.

A review of Gladius’ AIS data shows a 16-day gap in transmissions from January 6, 2021 to January 22, 2021 while the ship was sailing in the Black Sea.

Gladius is not the first ship to be seized by Ukrainian authorities, but these occurrences remain relatively rare.

The Tanzania-flagged general cargoship Anka (IMO: 9365415) was detained in the Danube river in April, while the Cameroon-flagged general cargoship Usko Mfu (IMO: 7919781) was intercepted in July 2024.

According to the SBU, the owner of the cargo ship was under sanctions imposed by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), and to circumvent them, the vessel regularly changed its name and nominal beneficiaries from third countries. The ship arrived at the port of Odesa under the flag of an African country, allegedly to transport a shipment of steel pipes.

It has been established that before the full-scale war, the vessel entered the port of Sevastopol at least seven times for illegal exports on behalf of Russia, and in January 2021, it illegally exported almost 7,000 tons of grain from Crimea to North Africa.

At the time of detention, the captain and 16 crew members were on board—all citizens of several Middle Eastern countries. During a search of the ship, documents and navigation materials were found confirming illegal entries into ports of temporarily occupied territories.

The SBU investigators have opened a criminal case under several articles, including treason and financing actions against Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The ship has been seized and will be transferred to the management of ARMA (the National Agency for the Detection, Investigation, and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes).