Greece will transfer oil to the United States from the Russian tanker Lana (Pegas) detained in mid-April. This was announced on Thursday, May 26, by TASS with reference to the press service of the Greek Ministry of the Navy and Island Policy.
“Based on the court decision, it is expected that the cargo of the Lana tanker will be transferred to the United States. The ship is in the port of Karystos [on the island of Euboea],” the press service said.
It is noted that the US authorities will bear the cost of reloading.
On April 19, it became known about the detention of the Pegas oil tanker in Greece. Later it became known that the ship was renamed Lana due to EU sanctions.
The Russian tanker Pegas, which was in the Aegean Sea, was detained by the Greek authorities due to restrictive measures against ships from Russia. The ship was carrying crude oil, due to a mechanical failure, the tanker was accompanied by a tugboat on its way to the Peloponnese, where the oil had to be reloaded into another tanker. But because of the weather, the Russian tanker anchored near Karistos.
Initially, the request for detention applied only to the ship itself, and not to the cargo being transported.
On April 22, it became known that the Russian tanker Pegas, carrying 19 crew members, had been released. It was noted that the owners of the vessel presented official documents to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), according to which the ownership of the tanker was transferred to a company not subject to sanctions.
In early May, the United States sent a request for assistance to the Greek judicial authorities and demanded the arrest of cargo from the ship. Washington also called for an appropriate investigation, since the oil was Iranian, and the company that should have benefited from the sale is suspected of financing terrorism.
Western countries began to introduce new anti-Russian sanctions against the backdrop of a special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24.