Germany was racing Saturday to secure a heavily loaded tanker stranded off its northern coast, towing the stricken ship it said was part of Russia's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet" away from shore to avert an oil spill.

An oil tanker believed to be part of Russia’s efforts to evade international sanctions went adrift and had to be towed ashore by a German tugboat.

Fresh oil started pouring from a stricken Russian tanker in the Black Sea on Friday, said officials in Moscow, as Ukraine warned of "terrible environmental consequences" from the spill.

BERLIN - Germany charged that a heavily loaded tanker adrift off its northern coast on Jan 10 was part of the “shadow fleet” Moscow uses to avoid sanctions on its oil exports. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticised Russia’s use of “dilapidated oil tankers” and labelled it a threat to European security.

German rescue teams on Friday secured towing lines to a loaded oil tanker that lost the ability to manoeuvre in the Baltic Sea near the German island of Rügen. The stricken tanker Eventin, loaded with 99,

A loaded oil tanker that lost the ability to manoeuvre in the Baltic Sea near the German island of Rügen was being towed almost 25 kilometres eastwards by three tugs. The towing operation was proceeding very slowly at one to two knots (1.

Baerbock emphasized that such actions by Russia endanger security in Europe. “Russia jeopardizes our European security not only with its aggressive war against Ukraine, which violates international law,