Second Military Cargo Convoy Casts Off From Kaliningrad
The other half of the large military cargo convoy, which formed up in the Port of Baltiysk at the end of October, has now also left Kaliningrad in the Baltic.
The first two ships, the Ascalon (IMO 9198226) and Anastasiia (IMO 9349291) set off together on October 31. Sailing in company, the ships passed through the Langeland Belt, escorted by the Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoikiy (F545), and shadowed first by the German Coastguard vessel Bamburg (IMO 9830020) and the Danish Coastguard vessel Merkur (MMSI 219167000), and then by the Danish naval patrol vessel HDMS Rota (P525). On November 6, the two vessels were making their way through the English Channel, and on November 10 were lingering off Lisbon, possibly waiting for an escort.
Back in Baltiysk, the Lady R (IMO 9161003) and the Lady D (IMO 9349289) set off together from Baltiysk on November 5, joined now by another of the sanctioned civilian military cargo fleet, the Maia-1 (IMO 9358010). Early on November 6 the three ships were between Rügen and Bornholm, again escorted by the Stoikiy, and shadowed this time by the Danish naval patrol vessel HDMS Najaden (P523). The Sparta (IMO 9268710) was back in Baltiysk on November 9, having completed another run from St Petersburg.
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Midday on November 11, the three Russian cargo vessels were proceeding out the western end of the English Channel, escorted by a French warship. An unidentified second warship was also in close company, probably the Neustrashimy-class frigate RFS Neustrashimy (F772), the Russian piquet in the English Channel, which the day before had been lurking in the approaches of the Thames Estuary.
All these movements of sanctioned Russian vessels associated with shipping military cargos are now being closely escorted by NATO warships, handed off from one NATO nation to the next as they move through adjoining territorial waters. The Russians are devoting an increasing proportion of their operational fleet, which has suffered attrition from Ukrainian action both in the Black Sea and the Baltic, to providing such escorts, both for dark fleet tankers sailing under flags of convenience but increasingly for Russian-flagged but sanctioned vessels, even though UNCLOS presents few opportunities for the seizure of such ships.
