Italy's Guardia di Finanza (GdF) financial police force and local customs officials recently seized a foreign-owned cargo vessel over allegations of falsification of records as a means of evading EU sanctions imposed against Russia.
Authorities have suspected the Turkish-owned ship of illegally transporting 33,000 tons of metal from the Port of Novorossiysk in Russia. The crew are meanwhile being interrogated.
Officials have not disclosed the name or the flag state of the vessel. However, Italian media identified it as the Tuvalu-registered bulk carrier Hizir Reis.
The ship arrived at the Port of Brindisi on Italy's Adriatic coast on November 21, 2025. Shortly upon its arrival, authorities conducted an inspection and discovered, "serious inconsistencies, falsifications, and alterations," in the available documentation relating to its recent port visits and the loading of cargo.
Officials also said that the ship had deactivated its AIS transponder while near Novorossiysk with the possible aim of avoiding being tracked by appropriate authorities.
GdF investigators were able to determine the vessel's routes between November 13 and 16, 2025. They also confirmed that the ship conducted prohibited cargo loading operations in Novorossiysk during the same period.
The captain had also reportedly given statements with the aim of misleading Italian officials while his ship was being inspected.
The ship itself, which was built in 1999, is also under investigation for supposed "structural condition" issues, which were discovered during a port state control inspection.
A local court had ordered the ship's seizure. The owner and several crewmembers are meanwhile being investigated for their role in the alleged circumvention of sanctions.