Mark Handley – Page 11 – European Sanctions Enforcement

March 9, 2026July 6, 2026 by Mark Handley

European Vessel Seizure Tracker

There have been some high-profile examples of this in the last month or so, but the practice can be seen to have started years ago, while the number of examples made it sensible to gather them all in one place.

The vessels are not all oil tankers but also include bulk cargo carriers and container vessels:

26 February 2022 – France seizes the Baltic Leader

20 April 2022 – Greece seizes the Lana

10 January 2025 – Germany seizes the Eventin

17 January 2025 – Finland seizes the Eagle S

14 April 2025 – Estonia seizes the Kiwala

6 October 2025 – France seizes the Boracay

the Captain was convicted in absentia and given a year’s jail

23 December 2025 – Sweden seizes the Adler

2 January 2026 – Finland seizes the Fitburg

19 January 2026 – Italy seizes the Hizir Reis

27 January 2026 – France seizes the Grinch

the owner was fined “millions” to obtain vessel’s release

20 February 2026 – Denmark seizes the Nora

2 March 2026 – Belgium seizes the Ethera

the Owner was required to pay €10m to secure release. Being appealed.

9 March 2026 – Sweden seizes the Caffa

Prosecutors sought confiscation of vessel which has been granted

Updates since original post:

16 March 2026 – Sweden seizes the Sea Owl I

23 March 2026 – France seizes the Deyna

the owner paid undisclosed fine to obtain vessel’s release

3 April 2026 – Sweden seizes the Flora 1

The vessel has since been released

5 May 2026 – Sweden seizes the Jin Hui

1 June 2026 – France seizes the Tagor.

the owner of the vessel pleaded guilty to having no flag and paid a €1m fine

14 June 2026 – UK seizes the Smyrtos

23 June 2026 – France seizes the Deliver

March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Mark Handley

Latvia – company and individual convicted of timber imports from Russia

The Latvian authorities have convicted, and fined, an individual and company for sanctioned timber imports from Russia.

The imports were of 50 packages of timber.

The company which procured the import was fined €39,000, and the individual who arranged the imports was fined €14,800. In addition the individual had the proceeds of the sale (€13,935) confiscated as the proceeds of crime.

As separate prosecution has been brought again the customs agent.

March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Mark Handley

Estonia – individual sentenced to 3.5 years’ jail for assisting Russian exports

Further to our earlier post regarding his extradition from Italy to Estonia, it is now being reported that Ivan Anchevsky has been sentenced to 3 and a half years jail for prohibited exports of equipment to Russia.

The judgment remains subject to appeal.

The conviction relates to the shipping of equipment from Switzerland to Russia with assistance from Anchevsky and his companies Militec LLC and Militec Europe.

As part of the same trial Anchevsky was acquitted of charges of exporting dual use goods.

March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Mark Handley

Sweden – seizure of cargo vessel for false flag failings

On Saturday Swedish authorities took control of the cargo vessel, Caffa. Video of the seizure has been released.

It is being reported that the authorities suspect that the vessel, carrying a cargo of grain, may have been sailing under a false Guinean flag.

A Russian national crew member has been arrested on suspicion of using false documents.

March 4, 2026March 4, 2026 by Mark Handley

Germany – two Customs investigations into Russian imports/exports

Two previously missed investigations from German customs into luxury car exports to Russia:

A. December 16, 2025

After commencing an investigation in December 2024, and raids conducted in May 2025, German Customs obtained an asset freeze over €16.5m.

The investigation is into a 41 year-old German-Moldovan national suspected of exporting 236 vehicles to Russia valued at €18.86m.

Further searches were conducted at properties in Ger and Teuchern in December 2025.

B. February 25, 2026

Raids and property searches were carried out in Hamburg relating to a company’s managing director suspected of more than 900 prohibited imports from Russia valued at over €4m.

The press release notes that “due to the ongoing investigations, no statement can yet be made about the type of goods”.

March 4, 2026March 4, 2026 by Mark Handley

Belgium – €10m payment and rectifying infractions required to obtain release of seized shadow fleet tanker

Further to our earlier post regarding the Belgian seizure of the tanker, the Ethera, it is now being reported that 45 infractions have been identified in relation to the flag status and condition of the vessel.

It is also being reported that these infractions will need to be rectified before the vessel will be released and that a €10m payment will need to be made. Different reports (here, here and here) describe this payment as a bond, a bail payment, or a fine.

March 4, 2026March 4, 2026 by Mark Handley

The blog’s 700th post – sanctions enforcement milestones reached

With today’s post on convictions in Germany, the blog has reached the milestone of 700 posts.

The post also takes European Sanctions Enforcement over several other milestones:

The €20m confiscated is Europe’s seventh largest sanctions fine/confiscation since 2017. All but one of those from the UK were fines imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority.

There has now been more than €500m in fines, penalties or confiscations since 2017.

More than a century of jail time has been handed out since 2024, and Germany alone has seen sentences of more than 70 years of jail since 2017.

Enforcement across Europe is trending upwards.

March 4, 2026March 4, 2026 by Mark Handley

Germany – convictions, €20m confiscation and 6 years in jail for luxury car exports to Russia

German Customs has announced the result in a criminal prosecution of two individuals charged with exporting 111 luxury cars to Russia in breach of EU sanctions.

See our earlier post relating to the raids conducted in 2024.

The vehicles were armored and classified as luxury under the EU sanctions.

One defendant pleaded guilty ahead of the trial, Inna W, and was given a 2-year suspended sentence. The main defendant, Andreas M, pleaded guilty mid way through the trial. He was given a six year jail term and has been in detention since his arrest in November 2024.

The defendants had further plans for the export of another 400 cars valued at €40m.

The evidence indicated an extensive procurement network of shell companies for purchasing the vehicles before export. Customers for the vehicles included various Russian state agencies and state-owned corporations.

The sentence included the confiscation of “approximately €20m” as the proceeds of crime said to be from the individuals and the companies involved.

March 2, 2026March 2, 2026 by Mark Handley

Denmark – container vessel detained for unclear flag status

The Danish Maritime Authority detained the container vessel the Nora on 20 February.

When the vessel first dropped anchor in Danish waters it was flying a Comorian flag. It is reported that upon investigations by the Danish government the Comorros registry then denied that the vessel was flagged there, leading to the Danish detention of the vessel.

The vessel, sanctioned by the US under its Iran sanctions and formerly named the Cerus, is reported to now be flying the flag of Iran. The same vessel is sanctioned by Ukraine under its Russian sanctions

March 2, 2026March 2, 2026 by Mark Handley

Belgium – criminal investigation opened after North Sea seizure of tanker “Ethera”

On Saturday night a combined operation of the Belgian and French military (see here and here) saw the seizure of the sanctioned “shadow fleet” tanker the Ethera in the North Sea.

The tanker has since been brought to Zeebrugge .

It is being reported that a criminal investigation has been opened, and it is alleged that the vessel was falsely claiming to have a Guinea flag.

The vessel’s captain, reported as a Russian national, has been questioned.