Odd-looking boats

[Sea Simon]

Cyprus has long-attracted dodgy Russians,  at least since "peristroika" etc freed a variety of "businessmen" to move assets about..was that late 80s, early 90s?

Many weird old cargo ships, with ludicrously large crews (sometimes three times the manpower of equivalent N European ships), that were once the original Sovcomflot fleet seemed to migrate to the Cyprus register....old ships built for river/inland sea trades started appearing in W European seas... and some Cyprus based ship managers would only recruit Russian speaking management staff.

You may remember the stories about the crews buying all sorts of old cars (Volvos and Ladas were particularly sought after)  and other junk for export "home".
It was certainly a thing hereabouts on the china clay trade coasters.
I recall trying to buy from them a Russian copy of a British Seagull outboard. It was about twice the size of ours, and had a large red star embossed on the fuel tank, which appeared to have been fashioned from some sort of used/surplus munition - magnificent!
I was outbid....

This must be topical.
Coincidentally, a local expert (credit to P Walkey) has today posted several 90s phots of Russian coasters in Fowey for clay, with a deck cargo of Ladas!

The "hog" in the first vessels sheer line is very probably NOT an optical illusion. They were many structural issues with these ships...
The second (pictured in Par) has a car on top of the accommodation, and the hammer and sickle funnel is visible. Not Cyprus registerd tho!

[Graham W]

Many weird old cargo ships, with ludicrously large crews (sometimes three times the manpower of equivalent N European ships), that were once the original Sovcomflot fleet seemed to migrate to the Cyprus register....old ships built for river/inland sea trades started appearing in W European seas... and some Cyprus based ship managers would only recruit Russian speaking management staff.

These strange activities must have been quite common back in the day.  I knew someone who purchased a fleet of Russian fishing rust buckets in the 1990’s.  They were nominally based in Vladivostok but it was much too dangerous to go back there.  So they hoovered up vast amounts of squid in the southern oceans and only ever landed them in South Korea.  He made a fortune and he wasn’t even Russian.

[Graham W]

Abramovich’s superyacht ‘Eclipse’ has had its AIS turned off for over 24 hours now but is almost certainly the unidentified ‘yacht’ following Eclipse’s previous heading that occasionally updates its position via satellite.  In which case it is midway between Tunisia and Sardinia and still proceeding very slowly (about 6kn) eastwards.

His other superyacht ‘Solaris’ is still broadcasting its AIS.  It continues to head south, also at 6kn, and is “awaiting orders”, as before.  It is currently about 20nm off the SW coast of Greece, opposite the island of Zakynthos.

[Graham W]

Having skirted southern Sicily, kleptoyacht ‘Eclipse’ continues eastwards into the Ionian Sea, having passed north of Malta. It looks like it is headed towards Crete and is now motoring slightly faster than before at 8 knots.

Kleptoyacht ‘Solaris’ has slowed down to 3 knots and is hanging around outside the territorial waters of Greece’s southernmost island of Gavdos, south of Crete.  By astonishing coincidence, a small Russian-registered oil products tanker, the ‘Vyazma’, has come out of Cypriot Limassol and is loitering only 5nm away.  They both may be genuinely “awaiting orders”, as they declare on their AIS systems.  Or they could be waiting to rendezvous with ‘Eclipse’, which at current relative speeds would take more than three days.

If you wanted people to stop snooping on your kleptoyacht’s position and heading, what would you do?  Dismantle your AIS system and bribe a passing fishing boat to take it with them?  I doubt that this is what has happened but given Abramovich’s colourful financial history and the value of his kleptoyachts (probably together a lot more than £1bn), perhaps nothing should be ruled out.

[Sea Simon]

Even commercial AIS systems are easily "tampered with", turned off or removed/transferred

Therefore, imo, if we can "see" them, then these guys are playing with us all?

Fuel.
There is a long-established commercial bunkering station off Kaloi Limenes in SW Crete (Mikronisi - you can see the tank farm on google earth); I've been there.
Really is the middle of nowhere, but Handy for Libya, Suez etc...

[Graham W]

There are several ships that have been doing slow speed zig zags into the NNW to NNE winds in international waters just off Simon’s Cretan bunkering station.  Kleptoyacht Solaris was dawdling very close by and one of the ships (track below) was a Russian general cargo ship, the Maliy BS.  Any idea what might have been going on?  Transfers by helicopter or ship’s launch?  Solaris has a large helipad and several launches.

The Russian oil products tanker Vyazma may have done something similar in close proximity to Solaris yesterday but turned off its AIS for four hours, so there was no track to follow during the relevant period.  When it turned its AIS back on, it was heading east at full speed, leaving Solaris astern.

Supposing that ship to ship transfers could be proven to have taken place (very unlikely), would this be a breach of sanctions given the flags of the participants and the fact that it was in international waters?  When it’s stopped messing about off Crete, Maliy BS is due in Antwerp with a cargo from India.  I wonder what sort of reception the Belgians will give it?

Whatever has been going on, it seems to have given Solaris renewed vigour.  It has finally stopped dawdling and is now heading east at 9kn.  That would seem to rule out Suez.

[Sea Simon]

Fascinating GW. Thanks!

Vyazma fits my definition of an "odd" soviet ship.  Built 40 years ago, her proportions are "wrong" for pure commercial use. A lot of ship, for not much oil cargo.
 Lots of accommodation. Fine entry for speed...hull resembles a container ship rather than a tanker.
Summary...she looks rather like a miniature RFA "fleet oiler", and so could perhaps be suitable as an explorer yacht support tender?
Ship to ship transfers easily achieved in that area of the med. Men and materials.

Other. I see Solaris is Bermudan registered, and therefore as Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory she will be sailing under the Red Ensign, albeit a defaced one.
Shameful.

[Graham W]

According to a UK naval historian, Vyazma (now heading towards Syria) is one of the Russian Northern Fleet's tankers and has been replenishing two Russian warships that have recently been relocated from the Barents Sea to the Med. That would account for its non-commercial shape.  An interesting use of state military assets if it has also been replenishing kleptoyacht Solaris.

Solaris is currently on course for SW Turkey.  If it ends up in Göcek, it will find Russian superyacht Polaris already there.  This belongs to Maxim Shubarev, who made his money in construction and property in Putin’s old stamping ground, St Petersburg.  He purchased citizenship of Malta in 2018 and in common with other Russians with new Maltese passports, he is not yet on the sanctions list.  Despite this, he moved Polaris from Malta to Turkey in early March.

Meanwhile kleptoyacht Eclipse has had its AIS switched off since it passed north of Malta.  However, satellite signals seem to indicate that it is midway between Crete and Libya, still heading east.

[Sea Simon]

I see "Eclipse" is also registered in Hamilton, Bermuda - so is also under a Red Ensign...

[Graham W]

In 2018 Panama revoked the registration of a ship in entirely different circumstances https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45622431.  Last week Bermuda revoked the certificates of airworthiness of a large number of Russian jets registered there, on the grounds that sanctions denied them access to the spare parts needed to keep them in the air.  The island’s government is under pressure to do something similar with registrations of Russian-owned ships.

If its registration is revoked, a ship is not permitted to sail without a new registration in a different country.  Unfortunately there are several countries that are even less fussy than Bermuda about who they take on.  Including, and you couldn’t make it up, landlocked Mongolia.

[Graham W]

Kleptoyacht Solaris has started threading its way north up the Turkish coast, avoiding the territorial waters of numerous Greek islands sometimes only a few hundred metres to port (see track below).  The skipper is evidently pleased to have reached what he considers to be safety, as he has changed his AIS passage description to a cheeky “scenic cruising”.

Kleptoyacht Eclipse has switched its AIS back on after three days, probably having refuelled at sea somewhere north of Libya.  Now SE of Crete and heading for SW Turkey, it looks like the intention is to follow Solaris.

There’s a long article in the Times this morning about how oligarchs are hiding their yachts out of reach of sanctions, some having “gone dark” and several now in the Seychelles and Maldives.  It’s not very well researched, as according to its author Eclipse is cruising off the coast of Italy and Solaris is headed for Israel.

[david]

It now shows Solaris stationary just SSE of Bodrum, near to Kumbahce.

[MarkDarley]

Refueling at sea is going to become a necessity for many of those not yet seized, for a while I suspect!

[Graham W]

With kleptoyacht Solaris tucked up alongside a cruise liner berth in Bodrum, kleptoyacht Eclipse has now moored against similar facilities a few bays to the south in Marmaris. 

Unlike Russia’s staunchest allies, Turkey has supported Ukraine’s independence and declared the invasion by Russia to be a war.  This means that it technically has the right to close the Bosphorus to all naval vessels.  In other ways it is sitting on the fence and is less likely to impose sanctions, so Solaris and Eclipse (and several other kleptoyachts) are fairly safe where they are for the time being.

Longer term, these vessels will not be able to earn their keep by chartering out in traditional areas like the West Indies and the Med (Libya anyone?) and paying for their huge crews will be increasingly problematic.  Insurance may be unobtainable.  And they will not be able to get spares to maintain their huge engines, electronics and other vital systems.  Obtaining fuel will eventually become the least of their problems.

[Sea Simon]

Refueling at sea is going to become a necessity for many of those not yet seized, for a while I suspect!

Summer at sea in the S Med is going to be very uncomfortable on a 40 yo tanker that has been based in the Arctic.
Given their "dirty work"  and apparently servicing kleptoyachts - I hope so!

As to the yachts, ship-to-ship (STS) transfers can be more difficult than you might think, I've some past experience of that ...its going to take them a lot of very good fendering!
At least we can hope for some significant cosmetic damages, if only as evidence