The Maltese Government recently released two container vessels from its custody at the Port of Valletta nearly three years after these were detained for alleged links to a Russian company sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury.
The 8,204TEU ships MSC Bilbao (pictured) and MSC Valencia, formerly owned by Swiss shipping company MSC, have also been sold to Trans‑Shipping Company (TSC), an affiliate of German shipmanagement company Hammonia Reederei.
The ships were detained in Valletta in 2022 due to ties to State Transport Leasing Company (STLC).
A Russian Government-owned, joint stock transportation company, STLC has been on the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list since early 2022, at around the same time of he Russian invasion of Ukraine.
MSC Bilbao and MSC Valencia have been renamed TSC Dorado and TSC London, respectively. The ships have also been cleared to resume commercial sailings, as Hammonia Reederei is not subject to sanctions.