Estonia says Russia detained a tanker in Baltic Sea

2 comments

1. Some interesting bits, first:

   >”Today’s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably,” said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. “I have also informed our allies of the event.”

   Was it really that hard for Estonian government to predict that after they’ve attempted to board a Russia-bound ship?

   Second:

   >The navigation channel out of Sillamae through Russian territorial waters has been set up under an agreement between Estonia, Finland and Russia to avoid shallows in the Estonian waters, the administration said.
   Vessels sailing into and out of the port will now be guided through Estonian territorial waters, it added

   It would certainly make the maritime traffic more dangerous in the area, but I also wonder if there are any restrictions for the size of the ships that could use those shallow waters.

   Third:

   >A Greek coast guard official said that, since the vessel was not Greek-flagged, the Greek state had no authority on it.
   However, a Greek government official said Greece was aware and was monitoring the case. The official said Athens had stated its availability to assist, though no request to do so had been submitted.

   I wonder if such incidents will force companies to phase out flagging their ships under random country flags. Which I think would be a step in a right direction.

2. > “Today’s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably,” said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. “I have also informed our allies of the event.”

   I genuinely don’t know what they expected. This is the most predictable thing Russia could have done after their stunt the other day.

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