On Wednesday, July 22, 2026, the Italian Navy (Marina Militare) announced that, two days earlier, while operating as part of the European Union’s EUNAVFOR MED IRINI mission, it had stopped and conducted a flag verification inspection of the tanker M/V South Star (IMO 9263186, MMSI 613271012) in the Mediterranean Sea. The vessel is listed as part of Russia’s shadow fleet.
Photos: Operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini via X
The vessel was stopped under Article 110, concerning the right of visit, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in Montego Bay on December 10, 1982, together with the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention, adopted in New York on July 28, 1994.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said:
“We’re turning up the pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet. The oil tanker MV SOUTH STAR, suspected of sailing under false flag in breach of international maritime law, has been boarded on 20 July by Operation EUNAVFORMED IRINI forces for flag verification. Every illicit voyage helps sustain Russia’s war machine. We are matching our sanctions with action at sea. In parallel, Member States this week have authorised Operation EUNAVFOR ATALANTA to begin conducting flag verification boardings of suspected Russian shadow fleet vessels, in the same way Operation IRINI does. This decision further tightens the net.”
M/V South Star is 182 m long and 27.42 m wide, with a gross tonnage of 22,531 and a deadweight tonnage of 39,817 DWT. At the time it was stopped, the vessel was located south of Italy. At the time of publication, it is continuing its voyage to the port of La Goulette Nord (Halqueloued) in Tunisia. The ship is sailing under a false Cameroonian flag, although according to its registration it should have been flying the flag of Equatorial Guinea since June this year. It previously sailed under an unknown flag until March 2024. Before that date, it operated as Seal under the flag of Guinea-Bissau. Until July 2022, it sailed as Beks Blue under the flag of the Marshall Islands, while until December 2004 it operated as Hafnia Rainier and Mount Rainier under the flag of Singapore. It entered service in March 2004.
According to information on Russia’s shadow fleet collected by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (HUR MO) through its War & Sanctions information service, during the G7 oil embargo and price-cap regime on Russian crude, the tanker regularly participated in exports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products from the Russian Black Sea ports of Tuapse and Novorossiysk. This included the use of high-risk deceptive practices, such as disabling its AIS transponder, conducting covert operations near Russian Black Sea ports and south of the Kerch Strait, and carrying out ship-to-ship transfers involving Russian-linked vessels.
In March 2023, the tanker participated in the export of more than 30,000 tonnes of Russian petroleum products from the Russian port of Tuapse, where a production complex owned by the sanctioned company PAO Rosneft is located, including the Tuapse oil refinery and its marine terminal in Krasnodar Krai. The cargo was shipped by sanctioned Russian company PAO Rosneft and received by Bellatrix Energy Limited of Hong Kong, which was sanctioned by the United States in December 2023 for its significant involvement in trading Russian crude oil and petroleum products following the introduction of the price-cap policy.
In September 2024, the tanker participated in a chain of ship-to-ship transfers of Russian petroleum products exported from the port of Tuapse and transported to Benghazi, Libya, involving the tankers Skiron (IMO 9247443) and Storm Pearl (IMO 9263203). Since July 2024, the vessel has operated in the waters of Greece and Cyprus without appropriate insurance from an International Group P&I Club, serving as a floating ship-to-ship transshipment hub for Russian liquid bulk cargoes delivered primarily from the Russian ports of Tuapse and Novorossiysk, as well as from the oil and petroleum-product transshipment facilities at Taman, Primorsk, and Ust-Luga. Deliveries from Russian ports for onward transfer by the tanker Skiron in European waters have been carried out by a number of tankers, including vessels belonging to the Indian company Gatik Ship Management, one of the leading operators of Russia’s shadow fleet involved in transporting Russian crude oil and petroleum products under Western sanctions in 2022–2023.
M/V South Star was sanctioned by the United Kingdom on May 9, 2025; Canada in June 2025; Australia on September 18, 2025; the European Union on October 24, 2025; Switzerland on December 13, 2025; Ukraine on December 13, 2025; and New Zealand on February 20, 2026.
Ports visited include Aliaga, Turkey; Ambarli, Turkey; Yilport/Gebze, Turkey; Gelendzhik, Russia; Giresun, Turkey; Izmit, Turkey; La Goulette, Tunisia; Mersin, Turkey; Mundra, India; Novorossiysk, Russia; Samsun, Turkey; La Skhirra, Tunisia; Trabzon, Turkey; Tuapse, Russia; Marport West (Soyak) Terminal, Turkey; Bizerte, Tunisia; Altinova Shipyard, Turkey; Marmara, Turkey; Benghazi, Libya; Akrotiri, Cyprus; and Vassiliko Power Station, Cyprus.
On July 20, Op. IRINI 🇪🇺 conducted a flag verification boarding of EU sanctioned MV SOUTH STAR in #Med #HighSeas in compliance with Art. 110 of #UNCLOS 🇺🇳. #IRINI supports EU efforts to counter the #RussianShadowFleet pic.twitter.com/PTTyTYNVYr
— Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI (@EUNAVFOR_MED) July 22, 2026
We’re turning up the pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet.
The oil tanker MV SOUTH STAR, suspected of sailing under false flag in breach of international maritime law, has been boarded on 20 July by Operation @EUNAVFOR_MED IRINI forces for flag verification.
Every illicit voyage… pic.twitter.com/Q4esYx4VRl
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) July 22, 2026
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