Media attention on Russian seafarers in Nordic waters

At Oslo Bulk AS we own 10 vessels employed in the ‘Dalaro trade’ where we are also a shareholder. All these vessels are classed by DNV and insured by Gard.  

Dalaro operates ± 20 vessels in a clearly defined trade: we transport forest products such as timber and wood pulp from Sweden and Finland to north Africa (where there are no trees). On the return legs we move road-, fish salt and aggregates. The trade is based on contracts with long-standing customers, and the result is an efficient and environmentally friendly operation with minimum ballast.

Each round voyage takes about five weeks which means that Dalaro does about 200 such round voyages per calendar year. We have been operating this service for the past 15-20 years.

Vessels in this trade have traditionally been manned by east European seafarers. Nothing wrong with Asian seamen, but they do have less experience with the ice trade and securing of deck cargo during a long winter. Therefore, Russian and Ukrainian crew have dominated as seafarers.

Last week Denmark reported unfriendly drone activity near some of its airports. One of our vessels – the Oslo Carrier 3 – was passing Copenhagen more or less at the time the drone activity was observed. The vessel was enroute from Germany to Klaipeda in Lithuania. Danish media picked up on this fact and reported that there were Russians onboard.

Upon arrival in Klaipeda the vessel was inspected by both border control and Nato military personnel; – above and underwater. We understand nothing was found and authorities left the vessels without remarks.

We can assure you that we follow the situation with the respect it deserves.