Tanker caught in smuggling probe freed after 10 months as tests undermine ‘Russian’ oil claims

Albania has released a product tanker at the centre of a probe into smuggled sanctioned Russian oil after tests by government scientists undermined the case, the shipowner said.

The 37,600-dwt Grace Felix (built 2008) was seized in February by Albanian officials and detained for 10 months after it arrived at the port of Porto Romanoto to discharge 180,000 barrels of gas oil.

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Prosecutors claimed the oil transferred to the Grace Felix in a ship-to-ship operation off the coast of Greece was Russian and breached the country’s sanctions rules.

But the ship and cargo owners insisted that the oil originated from Azerbaijan and was not a sanctioned product.

The oil was loaded onto a Turkish-owned ship at the Russian port of Novorossiysk before it was transferred to the Grace Felix on 11 February, according to ship-tracking data.

Albanian government experts compared the seized cargo with Russian-origin gas oil and found it “presents changes in some important identifying indicators of origin”, according to translated prosecution documents.

Following scrutiny of the case, a court in the port city of Durres last month ordered the release of the ship and its cargo. The ship finally left Albania on 23 December and discharged its cargo in Turkey earlier this month. It is now in dry dock.

“There was no evidence to show that the oil on board the Grace Felix was of Russian origin,” said the shipowner in a statement.

The vessel owner, single-ship company Grace Felix Shipping, and cargo owner, Dubai-based Solid Energy Solutions DMCC, are now considering suing the Albanian state “seeking compensation in relation to this unjustified, prolonged and wrongful detention”.

Russian master Alexey Smaznov spent two months in prison after police claimed they had found falsified paperwork relating to the STS operation with the 50,000-dwt product tanker Fidan (built 2009).

Smaznov spent another six months on the ship.

He was finally allowed to go home in October following a court application by the legal team just days after a visit to the ship by an inspector from the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

No charges were ever laid against Smaznov, the ship’s owners or other crew members.

“There was no evidence to show that the oil on board the Grace Felix was of Russian origin and the official tests undertaken by the relevant state body demonstrated that it was different,” the shipowner said.

“The vessel and its cargo owners have suffered significant losses throughout this period, while there was a great injustice suffered by the master in being imprisoned for such a long period of time and not being permitted to leave Albania.

“It is a true mystery why the vessel was detained without real cause for such a prolonged period of time.”

The Albanian law enforcement team that investigated the case has been contacted for comment.

The Grace Felix is part of the seven-strong fleet of Grace Energy Shipping, an MR tanker operation headquartered in Dubai and run from Greece. It is headed by chief executive Stanislav Raspopov, a former Navig8 Group commercial analyst and shipbroker.