Ships from the navy are being serviced at a Danish shipyard, which also services ships from the Russian shadow fleet that supports the Russian war economy. But Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) wants to investigate whether this can continue and has asked the Danish Defence Materiel and Procurement Agency (FMI) to do so. However, he does not clearly answer whether he sees any safety problems in it.
- I have now asked to receive a statement in relation to whether there are challenges in relation to the framework agreement that FMI has with the shipyard in question.
- It is not because I have any knowledge about it, but it is clear that I have asked to receive a statement on that issue, he says.
It is the Danish family-owned shipyard Fayard, which in the port of Odense has serviced gas ships that support Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine for three years.
Every day, decommissioned tankers from the Russian shadow fleet sail through Danish waters with Russian oil worth hundreds of millions of kroner. They escape sanctions because they sail under a foreign flag with opaque ownership.
Oil exports finance Russia's war and create fears of environmental disasters, as the ships are old and underinsured. Some ships are sanctioned, but the majority are not yet, and therefore Danish companies do not break the law by servicing them.
According to the government, the problem must be solved under the auspices of the EU. However, it has entered into a coalition with allied countries to contact suspicious ships to check their insurance. Ships that renounce or sail without will be registered.
The question is how Denmark's Minister of Defense views the fact that the navy and the shadow fleet are serviced in the same place at a Danish shipyard, and whether there are security problems with that.
- I am of course taking the whole issue of our security seriously, both national security, but also where our capabilities may be serviced. And that is also why I have now asked for an explanation, he says.
No violation of law
In September 2024, FMI told Ekstra Bladet that the shipyard had not "violated laws and regulations" by servicing the navy and the shadow fleet.
But last week the board told Ritzau that the matter should be investigated after it grew in the media. Troels Lund Poulsen does not believe it.
- That is just the way it is. This discussion, in relation to our security policy situation, is constantly developing, and therefore I also think it is necessary now to get a statement on this issue, he says.
Troels Lund Poulsen announces a quick statement without elaborating on how quick.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) has previously called it completely incomprehensible that some Danish shipyards service the Russian shadow fleet. But the Minister of Defense is more subdued.
- I am not participating in shaming companies. I think that as a company, you should consider a lot about how and how you make your money. But it is also important to emphasize that this is not subject to sanctions, he says.
/ritzau/
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