Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Suspicions Linger in Dropped Albania Smuggling Case
Built in 2008, the Grace Felix was managed by Cypriot-based Cymare Shipmanagement Ltd when it was detained by Albanian authorities in February 2023. In July 2023, management passed to Cymare Navigation FZC, registered in the UAE. In January 2024, the vessel’s name was changed to Mestral and, according to the vessel database platform Equasis, it is owned by Mestral Shipping Ltd, based in Limassol, Cyprus. It currently sails under the flag of Panama.
The tanker has been accused by Ukrainian authorities of involvement in at least two cases of exporting crude oil and petroleum products of Russian origin in 2025. According to data published by Ukraine’s GUR, the tanker has repeatedly sailed with its Automatic Identification System, AIS, turned off over the past two years and has been involved in suspicious movements near Russian ports in the Black Sea, as well as waters near Greece, Turkey, and Libya.
Vessel’s Activities Under Scrutiny
In September 2025, according to GUR, the tanker transported around 30,500 tonnes of petroleum products from the Russian port of Taman to Turkey. A month later, it loaded nearly 30,000 tonnes of oil by-products from the Sheskharis terminal in the port of Novorossiysk, bound for Tunisia. In that case, according to GUR, the sender was the sanctioned Russian company PJSC Lukoil, while the charterer was its trading arm, Litasco.
Ukrainian authorities also report that Mestral has docked in ports in occupied Ukrainian territories, including the port of Kamysh-Burun in September 2025. On April 11, 2025, Ukraine sanctioned the vessel’s captain, Sergei Smaznov. Kyiv also sanctioned the vessel itself in December last year.
Cymare Navigation FZC’s Involvement
According to the Ukrainian GUR, the Mestral is not the only ‘shadow fleet’ vessel linked to Cymare Navigation FZC. The company manages several oil tankers believed by Ukrainian authorities to be used to circumvent the international embargo on Russia.
Among Cymare’s directors is Nikolay Spichenok, a British national who was head of the technical department of fleet management at the sanctioned Russian company PJSC Sovcomflot between 2012 and 2015. Sovcomflot is Russia’s largest state-owned maritime shipping company, providing services for offshore hydrocarbon production and the transport of Russian oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas.
Cymare’s Response to Accusations
Cymare dismissed the Ukrainian accusations as baseless. The credibility of information provided by Ukrainian intelligence services is “very low if not dubious”, it said, and accused Kyiv of applying “a wartime economic logic”. “It goes without saying that the Ukraine intelligence agencies are, by definition, secretive and manipulative, often using the media to shape public opinion or serve strategic national interests, and advance their own narrative to others to become a tool for their agenda,” the company said.
“The Cymare group of managing companies operate transparently, openly and in full compliance with the OFAC [US Office of Foreign Assets Control] regulations and sanctions. We categorically reject any allegations that our activities are linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine or violate international sanctions,” it added.
Original Article: Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Suspicions Linger in Dropped Albania Smuggling Case — Balkaninsight