Ukraine’s security services have detained the Gladius, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged general cargo ship, after the vessel arrived in Odesa to load steel pipes – and investigators say they have uncovered extensive evidence tying the vessel to past illegal calls at occupied Crimea.
The 1992-built, 8,224 dwt ship, formerly known as Aminah Star, switched both name and flag as recently as October 30, according to AIS records. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claims these rapid identity changes were part of a pattern by the vessel’s sanctioned owner to obscure its operations following blacklisting by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
SBU officials said Gladius had called at Sevastopol at least seven times prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, exporting agricultural products from Crimea in violation of Ukrainian law. In one documented instance in January 2021, the ship loaded more than 6,900 tonnes of wheat at Sevastopol for export to North Africa.
AIS data shows Gladius entered the Black Sea on December 1 before switching off its transponder the next day while approaching the Ukrainian coast.
The SBU has transferred the case to Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), which will determine the vessel’s future through the courts. ARMA has stepped up disposal of seized ships this year, moving to sell the Usko MFU and Anka in recent months and completing the sale of a small Russian tanker involved in a 2018 Kerch Strait incident.
