The Belgian Navy detained the sanctioned tanker ETHERA, which had previously transported Russian petroleum products

Andrii KLYMENKO,
Head of the Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies

Let’s sort out the story about the Belgian Navy detaining the tanker ETHERA, because the very thin information from Belgian and other media is getting more distorted with every reprint. Even Belgian outlets that tried to piece things together from official comments got some key details wrong. Here’s what they write, for example: 

"According to information collected by RTBF from several sources, Belgium seized the oil tanker ETHERA during the night. The 180‑meter ship, built in 2008 and sailing under the flag of Guinea, was arriving from the English Channel. It was intercepted off the coast of Ostend and first held at sea and then escorted to Zeebrugge, where it was seized…”  

Now to what we actually know:

• The tanker ETHERA (IMO 9387279) is not a crude‑oil tanker. It is a Chemical/Oil Products Tanker.
• The vessel was on its way back from the Moroccan port MA MOH (Mohammedia) with no cargo on board — in seafarer language, it was sailing in ballast.
• ETHERA had arrived in Mohammedia on 18/02/2026 carrying product loaded at the Russian Baltic port of Ust‑Luga (RU ULU), where it departed on 03/01/2026. It’s reasonable to assume it was returning in ballast to one of Russia’s Baltic ports for a fresh cargo.
• Why did they stop it and bring it into Zeebrugge? Under international maritime law, there is one very clear reason: the ship was sailing under a GUINEA FALSE flag — meaning that, legally, it had no valid flag at all and therefore no nationality. It has proudly displayed this fake Guinean flag since 01/10/2025. Before that, from 01/08/2025, it sailed with no flag whatsoever — not even a fake one. So our forecast is fairly simple, and we’ve seen this movie before: they’ll question the crew, inspect the paperwork, issue a fine, keep the ship alongside until the owner rushes to secure at least some kind of real flag, and then they’ll let it go.
• In terms of sanctions, the tanker checks quite a few boxes:
  - US “Trump‑era” sanctions since 30/07/2025 for Iran‑related voyages (IRAN‑EO13902),
  - Swiss sanctions since 13/12/2025,
  - UK sanctions since 24/02/2026,
  - and EU sanctions since 24/10/2025.

• According to our database, since the start of the full‑scale war ETHERA has completed 10 voyages, moving about 460,000 tons of Russian oil products to ports in Turkey, Morocco, and Brazil, as well as to STS transfer areas near EU coasts (Greece and Cyprus). It loaded at Russian ports in the Black Sea (Novorossiysk, Taman, and an offshore STS zone south of the Kerch Strait) and in the Baltic (Primorsk, Ust‑Luga, Saint Petersburg).  

• Shipowner since 24/05/2024: LAGO INTERNATIONAL SA, C/O: The Zulu Ships Management & Operation - Sole Proprietorship LLC Office 105, Madinat Zayed Tower, Muroor Road, Abu Dhabi. Ship manager/Commercial manager since 28/06/2024 – ZULU SHIPS MANAGEMENT, Office 105, Madinat Zayed Tower, Muroor Road, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – under the US sanctions since 30/07/2025. ISM Manager з 10/01/2025 – TARABYA LOGISTICS LTD 154A/155A, Building N280, Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – in the US Sanctions List since 30/07/2025, in EU Sanctions List since 19/07/2025.

• The tanker’s route since 01/01/2026 is shown on Map 3.

Forecast

What does this all tell us? It looks very much as if EU countries and the UK have finally (cautiously, I’d say) started implementing the first of Ukraine’s long‑standing recommendations: do not let tankers with no real nationality — no flag or a fake one, which is basically the same thing — into the Baltic, and act while they are in ballast, not when they are already loaded. Our statistics show that about 10% of tankers fall into this “no flag / fake flag” category. So their owners will now have to choose: find some country that still isn’t scared off and will register them under its flag, or move these ships eastwards, where China and a few neighbors pay far less attention to fake “flags,” or send them to the scrapyard. Ukraine still has another six or seven criteria ready that should be applied next. We’ll come to those later — no need to frighten our friends with everything at once.  

* * *

The publication has been created with the support of the Europe and the World Program of the International Renaissance Foundation. The position of the International Renaissance Foundation does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the authors.