Eurasia Press & News
It was a cold and windy day in January this year when the Besart and the Aya Zanoubya approached the port of Porto Romano near Durres on Albania’s Adriatic coast, the latter being towed due to an electrical failure that had supposedly prevented it from continuing to its stated destination.
Their declared cargo was cement, but, acting on a tip-off, investigators discovered something else – 600,000 litres of undeclared diesel fuel.
It wasn’t the first time.
According to data obtained by BIRN, Porto Romano, a privately-owned and operated port that specialises in oil imports, has repeatedly been the destination for imports of oil products originating from countries subject to United Nations, European Union or United States sanctions.
The Aya Zanoubya had docked at the same port just three weeks prior, in mid-December, again citing a technical defect that had prevented the boat from continuing to its declared destination. Again, its declared cargo was cement.
Experts say there is a good chance the contraband cargo seized in January originated in Russia, which has faced escalating Western sanctions since its 2014 annexation of Crimea and, in particular, its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia is the main country of origin,” said Lorenzo Bagnoli, head of the Investigative Reporting Project Italy, IRPI, which has been tracking illicit oil product transfers in the Mediterranean since 2016.
“Libya is the second source but about a third of all smuggled oil is of Russian provenance.”
Albanian State Police did not respond to a request for comment, but a police officer in the port of Durres said the smuggling of oil products usually involves false cargo declarations to suggest legitimate trade and the choice of ports where checks are lax.
“However, this can hardly pass without officials being bribed,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.
On the run
Photographs of the ships on the internet show two ageing vessels, the Besart’s blue paint fading and dotted with rust. The Besart was launched in 1981, the Aya Zanoubya even earlier, in 1977.
Both are registered in Tanzania, known for accepting into its sea registry boats owned by non-residents. The name ‘Besart’ means ‘promise’ in Albanian.
Indeed, prosecutors say both ships were chartered by a company called Batimarine Owner Ship, based in the Albanian port of Durres.
Montenegrin connection
Responding to a warning from Montenegro about unusually large oil purchases by Albanian ships in Montenegrin ports, prosecutors in Durres identified another route for illicit oil.
The case file identifies some 1.7 million litres of oil worth some 700,000 euros entering Albania from Montenegro between 2013 and 2016, depriving the state of roughly 1.7 million euros in unpaid taxes.
Investigators believe that fishing boats exited Durres port, ostensibly on fishing expeditions, but instead picked up tax-free fuel from companies in the Montenegrin port of Bar, far in excess of their own needs.
The Besart’s caption, Syrian national Mohammed Kahilah, told investigators that the voyage began in Tunisia with 100 tons of cement, but that he was also ordered to fill the ballast tanks with just over 400,000 litres of diesel by Batimarine Owner Ship administrator Eduart Skora, who told him it was needed to tow another ship.
Skora, an Albanian citizen, was arrested on January 26 when he crossed from Kosovo into Albania. He denied any wrongdoing, telling investigators variously that the diesel had leaked into the ballast tanks and that he needed a lot of fuel for a 98-day journey to Tanzania.
Skora also said that he personally was responsible for what was on the ship, not Batimarine Owner Ship or the company’s ultimate owner, Florian Biba.
Skora had a previous connection to Libya: in 2017, a ship he owned was seized by armed men in Libya and its crew held hostage for 34 days; he told media he paid a $34,000 ransom to secure the release of the crew and the ship.
Biba, the registered owner of Batimarine Owner Ship and a Swiss citizen of Albanian origin, could not be reached for comment.
The Customs Agent that dealt with the Aya Zanoubya, however, was paid by an oil trader called Juxhin Koka, leading prosecutors in Durres to suspect that Koka and another man, Serxhio Sula, had bought the Aya Zanoubya through an offshore company and organised the smuggling of the at least 200,000 litres of diesel found on board.
Both are on the run from arrest warrants issued against them.
After the Aya Zanoubya was seized in Porto Romano, Koka is suspected of paying a 10,000-euro bribe to the police officer assigned to guard it and then siphoning off the illicit cargo.
Questioned by prosecutors before the warrant was issued for his arrest, Koka claimed the only cargo on board was cement and denied smuggling oil. His whereabouts are unknown.
Prohibited oil from Libya
Porto Romano was involved in earlier case, in September 2022, when Albanian authorities seized the Queen Majeda, which had travelled from Benghazi, in Libya, to Albania, with Porto Romano its declared destination.
According to the case file, as the ship approached port, its captain tried to change course without docking. The file offered no explanation why.
According to court documents, Erlis Kosova, a representative of the shipping agency GK Maritime, had notified Albanian authorities that the ship was carrying oil for ‘Kastrati Sh.a’, Albania’s largest oil importer and whose sister company, MBM, is the owner of Porto Romano port.
Investigators found 2.6 million litres of fuel inside, but identified it as Marine Gasoil 1000 PPM, an oil product used by large ships but whose trade is prohibited in Albania.
According to court documents, the captain of the Queen Majeda told authorities he had sailed from Benghazi to Porto Romano twice before. The oil was supplied by the Libyan company Brega, and the ship was owned by Eldawadi Shipping Ltd of Nuri Eldawadi, a Libyan citizen.
Queried by BIRN, Kastrati Group denied that its energy arm, Kastrati Energy Trading Sh.a, was the purchaser of the Queen Majeda cargo in September 2022, but confirmed receiving two previous shipments transported by Queen Majeda.
“In both cases Albanian authorities carried out all required obligations,” a spokesperson said in a written response, stressing that Kastrati Group has never been accused of any crime in connection with the Queen Majeda.
The spokesperson pointed out that the transaction for the third trip, in September 2022, was carried out under ‘Delivered at Place’, or DAP, conditions. “These conditions are such that responsibilities pass to the buyer only after the merchandise has been delivered to it,” the spokesperson said.
“Kastrati always follows legal procedures and obtains all the necessary permits from the Albanian authorities, including the Border Police, Customs, and the Port Authority, prior to any vessel operation,” the spokesperson added.
“Supplies are contracted only with well-known international companies, while payments are made through globally reputable banking institutions, ensuring transparency and full legal compliance.”
Smuggling rife in divided Libya
Prosecutors in Durres say the oil in the third Queen Majeda trip was smuggled and the documents forged. They believe it may have been sold by individuals or groups blacklisted by the UN Security Council or US government.
In December last year, a UN panel of experts on Libya identified the Queen Majeda case as part of a larger systemic problem of smuggling from the north African state, rife with instability since the overthrow and death of Muammar Gaddafi and split between an internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration loyal to General Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi.
Low taxes and state subsidies make the smuggling of Libyan oil particularly lucrative, in turn filling the coffers of the various armed factions operating in Libya.
“Although Libya is an important producer of crude, it lacks refining capacities, creating a space for Russia, which uses its connections with the [Khalifa] Haftar group,” said Bagnoli from IRPI.
Many of the ships smuggling oil products from Libya operate out of Benghazi port, a Haftar stronghold.
The UN panel identified 185 suspicious trips made by ships of varying capacities, including the Queen Majeda, operating between March 2022 and October 2024.
“Local armed groups make money from smuggling,” Bagnoli told BIRN. “It doesn’t matter for them whether the smuggling is in oil or in humans, that is the way they make money.”
Fishing boats taking on oil
Among the ships identified by the UN panel was the Albanian-flagged fishing boat Blue Castor.
Prosecutors in Albania have investigated three separate cases in which Albanian fishing boats have been spotted receiving fuel supplies in open seas from ships coming from Libya. Two, in September 2022 and January 2023, was observed by the Italian Guardia di Finanza, which alerted Albanian authorities to the Libyan ships entering Albanian territorial waters.
In the 2022 case, the Albanian fishing boat Leon was caught in the act and escorted to Durres by the Albanian coast guard. Inspectors found that the boat had been modified to add extra fuel capacity of up to 30,000 litres.
In the other case, from January 2023, the fishing boat Geni was caught receiving oil from a Libyan ship. It had been modified to take on 50,000 litres of oil; and in July 2022, the fishing boat Anyway was seized in Durres and found to contain 73,000 litres of oil in modified reservoirs. The caption told investigators they had bought the oil in Libya and paid for it with fish.
Albanian authorities say that, besides the 2,200 tons on the Queen Majeda, they have seized some 753,000 litres of smuggled oil since 2022.
A source in the Durres prosecution said the contraband is usually low-quality fuel for use in heavy trucks or ships. “It is of very low quality to be used by personal vehicles,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
