![\"Russian](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ship-in-the-storm-300x157.png?resize=300%2C157&ssl=1\")
<\/div>\n![\"Ship](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ship-in-the-storm.png?resize=1200%2C628&ssl=1\")
A Russian-flagged tanker, Unity, has broken down in the stormy Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. The 16-year-old Aframax tanker, which departed Primorsk, Russia, on January 16, was carrying Russian oil bound for Mangalore, India.<\/p>\n
The ship lost propulsion due to extremely stormy conditions in the Atlantic on January 23.<\/p>\n
The Unity, owned by Moscow-based Argo Tanker Group, has been in service since 2009. The company acquired the vessel in September 2024, according to the shipping database Equasis.<\/p>\n
The ship is 245.07 meters (approximately 804 feet) long and 42 meters (approximately 137 feet) wide.<\/p>\n
The breakdown of the Unity follows a similar incident involving another Russian tanker, the Eventin. The 19-year-old Eventin, which was carrying nearly 100,000 tons of Russian oil, broke down in the Baltic Sea just two weeks prior.<\/p>\n
The vessel was on its way to Egypt when it encountered issues near R\u00fcgen Island. German authorities managed to establish a towing connection and towed the vessel to the port of Sassnitz.<\/p>\n
The Eagle S, another Russian tanker, has been involved in a Baltic subsea cable-cutting incident. Finnish authorities recently carried out a port state control<\/a> inspection and found 32 faults on the vessel, three of which were severe enough to require repairs before the ship could continue operating.<\/p>\n Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden have issued a joint statement expressing concern over Russia\u2019s use of a so-called shadow fleet.<\/p>\n The leaders believe that the fleet poses a major threat to maritime and environmental security, especially in the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n Last month, two tankers, the Volgoneft-212 and the Volgoneft-239, both Russian vessels, encountered trouble in Russia\u2019s Kerch Strait. The Volgoneft-212, which was carrying 4,300 tons of fuel oil, broke in half, while the Volgoneft-239 ran aground.<\/p>\n