In Italy, the financial police and the customs office of Brindisi recently detained a ship flying the flag of a small island in Oceania in the port of the Apulian capital, which arrived from Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea, writes UNN with reference to RaiNews.
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The vessel reportedly "was carrying 33,000 tons of ferrous metals, transported in violation of sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation after the invasion of Ukraine."
The "emergency preventive seizure" was confirmed by the investigating judge of Brindisi and approved by the court of appeal. The importer, shipowner, and several crew members are reportedly under investigation on charges of evading compliance with EU restrictive measures.
Upon the vessel's arrival at the port of Brindisi, the customs agency checked the import declaration for any prohibitions and restrictions, taking into account both the type of goods transported and their geographical origin.
According to the Italian financial police, further checks revealed "serious inconsistencies, falsifications, and changes in the onboard document." "In particular, the Guardia di Finanza's verification of a number of documents and analysis of data extracted from the navigation system confirmed that the vessel was in Novorossiysk (a sanctioned port of the Russian Federation) from November 13 to 16, 2025, carrying out prohibited cargo loading operations," the publication states.
Further checks and satellite analysis, as indicated, also revealed that the AIS system - a GPS transponder that allows vessels to identify themselves and provide their location, course, and speed in real time - was deactivated near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, likely to avoid geolocation and hinder inspection activities by competent authorities. Additional evidence of this was obtained through recourse to the Lloyd's S&P Global Maritime database, used by the country's customs agency.
All investigations carried out allowed for "an accurate reconstruction of the vessel's route and operations in violation of the EU Regulation on sanctions against the Russian Federation, despite the captain's misleading statements and attempts to obstruct the proceedings by altering documents and deactivating the transponder."