Estonian’s special operations police unit K-commando with support of the Estonian Navy have entered the 188-metre-long (617-feet-long) container ship Baltic Spirit on Tuesday 3 February, and ordered it to Muuga Harbour in Estonia. The vessel and its crew are suspected of smuggling for Russia.
However, the Estonian authorities emphasize that the Baltic Spirit is not part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, neither is it suspected to have broken EU sanctions against Russia. The Estonian authorities have not released any more proof of the suspicion of smuggling.
The Baltic Spirit was intercepted when it was sailing near the Estonian island of Naissaar. It was on its way from Ecuador to the St. Petersburg area in Russia. According to the authorities, none of the 23 crew — all Russian nationals — resisted the boarding nor detaining of the vessel and the crew. | © 2026 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com. Featured photo of Muuga Harbour in 2009 by Bjoertvedt (Creative Commons)