Sanctioned Russian Tanker Alyssum Towed to Port Said

A Russian oil tanker under four countries' sanctions lost all propulsion off Egypt's Mediterranean coast on November 5, forcing the Suez Canal Authority to send a salvage tug before it could drift into shipping traffic.

The Alyssum, a 37,273-deadweight-ton product tanker built in 2006, had been anchored without port calls off El Alamein since late September or early October. When its main engines failed, Sphinx Shipping Agency asked the SCA for help. The authority's tug Mohamed Beshir covered roughly 180 nautical miles to tow it east to the Port Said anchorage, where it will wait for repairs. The SCA said the operation was completed in record time.

The Alyssum has been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ukraine. The US Treasury designated it in January 2024 under the name Mona; the UK added it to its own list in September 2025 under the name Miley after the tanker changed its identity. Canada and Ukraine imposed measures in late 2025.

The rescue points to the ongoing challenge of shadow fleet tankers in major chokepoints. At the Suez Canal, traffic has been picking up: Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd resumed Suez Canal routing for their ME1 India-Europe service last week after months of Cape of Good Hope diversion. Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the sanctioned Russian tanker Talisman diverted to Algeria's coast this week after a diesel cargo deal fell apart, showing how widely the shadow fleet continues to operate through European waters.