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AIS tracking data indicated that the 'Minerva Zen' departed the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sep 22, 2026. On Oct 9, an official public authorisation was issued regarding the lifting of US sanctions on Russian-origin diesel imports. The tanker was headed to Wilmington, NC, with an ETA as of Oct 12. While the transit time from the Baltic Sea to the US East Coast is approximately 17–18 days, the vessel's imminent arrival, occurring within 24 to 48 hours of the official policy announcement on Oct 9, indicated that cargo loading and trans-Atlantic routing were initiated more than two weeks prior to the public regulatory shift, suggesting that the commercial logistics for this shipment were positioned in advance of the formalised policy change. On Oct 10 it was clarified that the ship was not carrying diesel, but urea, which was not sanctioned.

The 'Anastasiia', operating under US (OFAC) sanctions, has executed a sudden U-turn south of Sweden, while heading east before abruptly reversing course, and as of Oct 9 at 06:45 a.m. UTC, the ship was on a 277° heading at a slow speed of 5.1 knots, a profile consistent with open-water loitering. The ship's AIS destination field was completely blank. It had departed from Kaliningrad on Aug 26, 44 days ago. Operating for a month and a half without a declared destination was to be regarded as highly irregular for standard commercial transit.

The 'SVR Venus' was detained on Oct 5 in Burgas with eight detainable defiencies: 10127 - Safety of Navigation - Voyage or passage plan - no responsibility of RO; 11104 - Life saving appliances - Rescue boats - no responsibility of RO; 11113 - Life saving appliances - Launching arrangements for rescue boats - no responsibility of RO; 4114 - Emergency Systems - Emergency source of power - Emergency generator - no responsibility of RO; 5110 - Radio Communications - Facilities for reception of marine safety inform. - no responsibility of RO; 7105 - Fire safety - Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions - no responsibility of RO; 7106 - Fire safety - Fire detection and alarm system - no responsibility of RO; 7110 - Fire safety - Fire fighting equipment and appliances - no responsibility of RO. The ship was released again on Oct 7 and left the port with destination designated as Liverpool with an ETA as of Oct 23. In fact, the 'SVR Venus' berthed in Tuzla on Oct 9 and continuedto the port of destination on Oct 10. The last detention of the ship was only on Feb 27, then still sailing as 'C. Epsilon', in Creeksea with 25 deficiencies, for seven days until March 5.

A Russian Naval convoy has docked in Tobruk, consisting of the 'Anastasiia' and the 'Yuriy Arshenevskiy' (IMO: 8406705), escorted by the Baltic Fleet Ropucha-class landing ship 'Aleksandr Shabalin'. In an attempt to conceal their route, the flotilla had switched off their AIS transponders during the Mediterranean transit. Despite the AIS blackout, satellite imagery from Sep 13, 2026, confirmed the arrival of heavy military assets on the docks. The cargo included Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), and Ural logistics trucks. The sumaritimwere accompanied by Russian military instructors training Libyan National Army (LNA) personnel. An Italian Air Force P-72A tracked the flotilla in the central Mediterranean earlier in the week, while a US Army ARTEMIS II ISR aircraft conducted active surveillance off the coast of Tobruk during the unloading phase.

The 'Key Fjord' was detained on Sep 24, 2026, in Ghent with 31 deficiencies, five of which being regarded as seriously and grounds for a detention: 1) Pollution Prevention - Oil filtering equipment Inoperative 2) Propulsion and auxiliary machinery - Auxiliary machinery Not as required 3) Fire safety - Fire dampers Not as required 4) Fire safety - Fire pump and its pipes Not as required 5) Emergency system - Emergency source of power - emergency generator Inoperative The vessel was released again on Oct 6 and left the port enroute to Valsneset. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E9rrrCCCC/