On May 2, just under 70 km off the coast of Tanjung Sedili, Malaysia, the oil tanker Pablo caught fire under the stunned gaze of the entire world. Quickly, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency undertook its mission to rescue the 28 crew members on board the ship. Nevertheless, when the authorities tried to find the owner to claim the damages, they could not find who to turn to. Pablo was alone and stranded at sea.
According to numerous media reports, Pablo would be part of a fleet of vessels that are distributing sanctioned oil. In fact, Pablo Union Shipping is listed as a shell company registered in the Marshall Islands.
Around Pablo there is an aura of mystery. Where does it come from? Where does the oil come from? It is not yet known for sure, as well as the handling that is being given to the remains of the ship. However, there is something that is very clear: this type of ship transports the destruction of marine faunaand we don’t know what to do with them.
Ghost oil tankers, a risk to the ecosystem that no one knows how to stop
Unfortunately, Indonesian authorities have already reported the arrival of oil on their shores. Of course, this limits the commercial activities of the country since the fishermen cannot carry out their usual tasks. Spilled oil has damaged fishing nets and muddied the waters.
Pablo Union Shipping is far from the only organization dedicated to this type of practice. In fact, a report from The Washington Post reveals that Russia is one of the major powers involved in them. The Slavic country accumulates a ghost fleet that reaches more than 100 oil tankers of this nature. Of course, this is an attempt to wriggle out of the constraints that the European Union sanctions have created on the country’s economy.
The biggest problem with this is that, being a fleet of illegal activity, old and quite deteriorated boats are usually used. This means a risk to the ecosystem and the activities of the country in which it is located.as it is prone to unexpected spills, breakdowns at sea, fires and other accidents that can prove fatal to humans and the environment, as has happened before.
Also, in case of accidents, there is not much that can be done about it with these boats. When transporting sanctioned crude, cannot access western marine insurancea hemisphere known for having the largest number of companies dedicated to this purpose.
In Europe, the Baltic Sea region is one of the areas most prone to damage from these Russian oil tankers. Said damages due to oil spills and the lack of marine insurance leave us as a result of a time bomb. According to experts, in the event of an accident, scarce resources would greatly complicate the organization of a rescue operation, be it for the ecosystem or the crew.