Putin Orders FSB To Vet Ships Entering Russia Ports After Blasts

President Vladimir Putin has tightened rules for ships entering Russian sea ports from abroad, giving the nation’s main security service a bigger role following a series of mysterious blasts on oil tankers.

Starting July 21, the entry of vessels coming from foreign sea terminals is only possible with permission from a port captain, as agreed upon with the Federal Security Service, or FSB, according to a presidential decree published on Monday. The document was signed in accordance with Russia’s martial-law regulation.

Russia previously required an approval from the FSB, the main successor of the Soviet KGB security service, only if a vessel entered a port located in the vicinity of a Russian naval base.

The changes follow earlier recommendations from Russia’s Security Council, a key advisory body for the Kremlin, to increase ports protection after a recent series of still unexplained explosions on oil tankers in Russia or vessels that had earlier called at the nation’s ports.

The latest explosion happened less than a month ago near Libya on a vessel that had previously moored at Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga and at a terminal near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The cause of explosion is unclear. 

In the aftermath of these explosions, shipowners began to send divers and underwater drones to check the hulls of the vessels that had called at Russian ports for mines.

Earlier this month, Russia’s main port authority announced a tender auction for underwater inspection of vessel hulls in the nation’s Baltic ports. The authority has earmarked a total of as much as 3.16 billion rubles ($40.4 million) for the services.

“It is highly likely that a state actor has targeted crude oil/oil products tankers calling Russia,” maritime security firm Ambrey said in a report in March.

Ukraine has repeatedly sought to undermine Russia’s energy infrastructure since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the country. Moscow’s forces have also hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as both countries seek to hurt each other’s sources of revenue.