Russia-Linked Ship With Nuclear Load Held at NATO Port

A cargo ship that was traveling from St. Petersburg, Russia, to the United States has been held at Rostock, Germany's largest Baltic port, for weeks after sanctioned Russian uranium and lumber was found on board.

The Atlantic Navigator II, a 633-foot-long Marshall Islands-flagged vessel that departed from St. Petersburg was forced to call at the port on March 4 due to damage to its propeller, German newspaper Ostsee Zeitung reported on Thursday.

After checks that were carried out as part of monitoring compliance with foreign trade restrictions, German customs agents then held the vessel after discovering that it was transporting 40 million euros ($43 million) worth of sanctioned goods, including birch wood and enriched uranium for U.S. nuclear power plants.

The lumber came from the wood mills of a Russian oligarch who is on the European Union sanctions list, customs officials found.

The European Union imposed an embargo on Russian timber in response to President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022. The restrictions came into force in July 2022, and bans the import of pellets, lumber and other wood products from Russia.

Washington has not sanctioned Russian uranium or lumber yet. However, in December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban imports of Russian uranium. In 2022, U.S. nuclear power plants imported about 12 percent of their uranium from Russia.

An investigation has been launched and the cargo ship will remain in the port of Rostock pending its progress.

"Due to EU-sanctioned goods onboard, the ship has received a detention order from customs. Leaving the port is therefore prohibited," Falk Zachau, head of the Rostock port, told the newspaper.

"The ship's cargo, like all goods brought into the EU, is subject to customs supervision. As part of this monitoring, we particularly check compliance with restrictions on foreign trade, including sanctions against Russia. The current investigations are still ongoing," the customs office that ordered the vessel's detention said.

The owner of the vessel has filed a complaint against its detention.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Despite sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to the war, tons of Russian timber continue to illegally enter the EU market, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' partners in Europe found in March.

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