Russian ship detained in Rostock, Germany because of EU-sanctioned cargo. Possibly timber and enriched uranium for the US.

Damage to the propeller forced the cargo ship "Atlantic Navigator II" to call at the port of Rostock. The ship is now not allowed to leave from there: the ship has cargo from Russia on board, which is on the EU's sanctions lists.

It is the first case of its kind in MV since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The "Atlantic Navigator II" has been in port for more than three weeks now and is not allowed to sail for the time being – because it has loaded goods that are on the sanctions lists of the European Union.

Interestingly, the cargo is destined for the USA.

According to OZ information, which has been confirmed by several sources, the ship has been loading, among other things, birch wood and also enriched uranium for US nuclear power plants.

The freighter had left the port of St. Petersburg at the beginning of March. It was not planned that it would call at Rostock: "The 'Atlantic Navigator II' arrived in the port of Rostock from St. Petersburg on 4 March to repair damage to the propeller flukes. The damage was probably caused by an ice trip," says Falk Zachau, head of the Rostock Harbour and Seamen's Office.
He also confirms: "Due to goods on board, sanctioned by the EU, the ship has received a detention order from customs. Leaving the port is therefore prohibited."

The responsible main customs office in Stralsund states: "The cargo of the ship, like all goods brought into the EU, is subject to customs supervision. As part of this monitoring, we check in particular compliance with restrictions on foreign trade, including sanctions against Russia. The investigations currently underway are still ongoing." For reasons of customs and tax secrecy there is no official statement about the cargo.

While the EU has sanctioned trade with said birch wood, the US continues to import timber products from Russia. According to data from the US Customs Service, the United States has imported almost two billion dollars worth of timber from Russia since the beginning of the war. The forests in Russia are all owned by the state or the military, and are largely managed by oligarchs close to Putin.

On board the "Atlantic Navigator II" - according to insiders - there is also wood from the company Sveza. Sveza is part of the business empire of Alexei Mordashov, one of the richest Russians. The major shareholder of the travel group TUI is also personally on the EU's sanctions lists.

However, there is not only wood on board, but also enriched uranium for US nuclear power plants. The total value of the cargo of the "Atlantic Navigator II" is estimated at around 40 million euros. So far, there has been no official confirmation of this.

Source (German)

The U.S. has abandoned its own enrichment because it is cheaper from Russia. American companies are paying around $1 billion a year to Russia’s state-owned nuclear agency to buy the fuel that generates more than half of the United States’ emissions-free energy. The United States’ reliance on nuclear power is primed to grow as the country aims to decrease reliance on fossil fuels. But no American-owned company enriches uranium. The United States once dominated the market, until a swirl of historical factors, including an enriched-uranium-buying deal between Russia and the United States designed to promote Russia’s peaceful nuclear program after the Soviet Union’s collapse, enabled Russia to corner half the global market. The United States ceased enriching uranium entirely.

Roughly a third of enriched uranium used in the US is now imported from Russia, the world’s cheapest producer. Most of the rest is imported from Europe. A final, smaller portion is produced by a British-Dutch-German consortium operating in the United States. Nearly a dozen countries around the world depend on Russia for more than half their enriched uranium.

Source

@freerussia_report