Albania Bars Suspected Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker From Durres

Albanian authorities blocked the oil tanker HANUMAN from entering the Port of Durres on 29 August 2026 after Ukrainian military intelligence identified the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel as part of Russia's shadow fleet. Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) had added HANUMAN to its War&Sanctions database on 26 January 2026, listing it as an active shadow fleet vessel that has carried about 452,000 tonnes of Russian fuel since the start of 2025. Most of the tanker's voyages originated at Novorossiysk before continuing to Turkey, Senegal and the UAE, with the vessel also reported at a transshipment area near Augusta, Italy. GUR said the ship's logistics were managed by Altoprae Marine, a Novorossiysk-based company it said was founded and is run by a figure linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Gennadiy Timchenko. The agency described Altoprae Marine as regularly servicing shadow fleet tankers, including EVENTIN and CORDELIA MOON (now renamed WALRUS), both under sanctions from multiple Western jurisdictions and both linked to prior environmental safety incidents. GUR also said the company is connected to vessels belonging to Rosewood Shipping, tied to Oksana Marchenko, wife of Viktor Medvedchuk. HANUMAN had previously called at Durres in November 2025 and was named in a BIRN investigation published in May 2026 that identified vessels suspected of carrying Russian oil or stolen Ukrainian grain through Albanian ports since Russia's 2022 invasion. Albania, a NATO member and EU candidate, has applied EU sanctions against Russia since February 2022. GUR welcomed the port block as an example of international cooperation against sanctions evasion, warning that shadow fleet vessels frequently disable tracking systems and pose environmental and navigational risks.