Spain Allows Russian Sailboat to Make Port Call Despite Sanctions

Spanish authorities have granted an emergency request for the replica of an 18th-century Russian frigate to make a port call so that it can replenish provisions and replace broken parts, media reported Tuesday.

The EU implemented a ban on Russian vessels docking at its ports as part of a broader sanctions package in response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian frigate, called Shtandart, is captained by its builder Vladimir Martus, who last week accused French and Spanish authorities of blocking entry to their ports.

“After four days of passage, there’s very little food and water on board. We might have another three or four days left,” Martus said in a video published on Wednesday. 

Spanish media reported that local pro-Ukrainian groups protested Shtandart’s anticipated docking, citing its “close ties with the Kremlin.”

Authorities in the northwestern Spanish province of Galicia on Monday authorized the Shtandart’s “forced stopover” at Porto de Cee, citing an exception in EU sanctions that permit emergency port calls, according to the local newspaper Faro De Vigo. 

The publication said authorities arranged for the supply of food, water and spare parts for the Shtandart’s faulty electrical generator at the docking site. Shtandart is then expected to sail to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“The entry of the ship had to be for the time strictly necessary to carry out the supply and spare operations, which will take place immediately upon arrival, to facilitate the early departure of the Shtandart without being able to carry out any other activity in [Spain’s] territorial waters,” the publication wrote.

The state-run news agency TASS reported that the Spanish Transportation Ministry’s civil maritime authority confirmed it had allowed Shtandart to dock in Spain “strictly for the time needed for provisioning and replacement.”