Finland has cleared the loading of a Canfornav bulker stopped from entering port due to a cargo on board with alleged links to a Russian oligarch.

The port authority at Kotka held the 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser on the 36,000-dwt Smew (built 2014), YLE reported.

But the Canadian operator later told TradeWinds the cargo is owned by a US company.

“Before fixing this cargo on a voyage charter, due diligence was exercised by Canfornav,” a spokesperson said.

“However, after the cargo of fertiliser had been loaded on board the Smew, the Finish authorities needed some clarification about the ownership of the cargo, and a temporary hold order was put on the cargo,” the spokesperson added .

Doubt was cleared on 22 March, and the cargo has been permitted to be carried to its destination, Canfornav added.

According to the port, this was the first time that sanctions against Russia have stopped a cargo being discharged there.

The Finnish ministry of foreign affairs had been told about the shipment last week.

“In cooperation with the authorities, we discovered that there is fertiliser there which probably belongs to a person on the EU sanctions list,” said Pia Sarivaara, head of the ministry’s sanctions team at the time.

Cargo worth up to $12m

The value of the cargo could be about $10m to $12m on the world market.

Russia is the world’s largest producer of agricultural fertilisers and they are part of a deal to allow Ukrainian grain to be exported.

But many production companies are owned by sanctioned oligarchs.