The Liberia-flagged vessel was stopped in Russian territorial waters, reports the Estonian public service ERR, as cited by Dagens Nyheter. The owner, the Greek shipping company Aegean Shipping, claims that the oil tanker had permission for the journey.
Instead, the vessel sailed to the Russian island of Hogland in the Gulf of Finland, where it lay at anchor on Sunday. The incident occurred after midnight, on Sunday night.
The oil tanker had the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands as its destination.
Vessels traveling to or from the Estonian port are advised to travel through Estonian territorial waters, according to Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Efforts from several countries in the Gulf of Finland have previously been made against vessels suspected of belonging to Russia's so-called shadow fleet – sometimes consisting of vessels without nationality markings.
On Tuesday, Estonia wanted to inspect the vessel Jaguar, which was on the UK's sanctions list and was suspected of sailing under a false flag. Estonian authorities wanted to board and inspect the vessel, but were refused.
According to Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, Russia responded by sending a fighter plane to the location. Estonia's government summoned Russia's chargé d'affaires in the country due to the violation.
