Europe
Tanker linked to Iranian missile shipments to Russia shuttles along the Norway-Russia maritime border – sources
The 30-year-old tanker Padre, on the US sanctions list and linked to Russia’s MG-Flot, has been moving back and forth along the Norway-Russia border in the Barents Sea since late October.
A 30-year-old, 241-metre tanker flying a false Nicaraguan flag has been moving back and forth along the maritime border of Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea since late October, with no known destination. The Padre (IMO 9116632) is on the US sanctions list for its ties to the Iranian regime and is believed to remain linked to the Russian shipping company MG-Flot. Ships of that company, according to Washington, carried very short-range Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia in 2024.
The unusual course was spotted from navigation data by Norway’s The Barents Observer on November 4, when the ship had already spent more than two weeks in the area. The Padre reportedly loaded oil at Murmansk and left Kola Bay on October 19. On Sunday, November 8, Automatic Identification System (AIS) data showed it still moving in northern Russian waters at about 3.5 knots, with no declared destination.
The Norwegian authorities are keeping a close eye on it. Arve Dimmen, director of Navigation Technology and Maritime Services at the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket), confirmed the monitoring: “We monitor all tanker traffic along the Norwegian coast and pay particular attention to oil tankers, from which we now require insurance details when they enter the Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone. Given its age, flag and history, it is among the ships we follow most closely.”
Four names, changes of owner and flag
The Padre has sailed in the past as the Narval, Polar Rock and Ce Merapi. In the Equasis ship register it appears from 2021 to 2026 under Transfin-M PC and Marine Trans Shipping LLC, and since April 2026 it has belonged to an unknown company called Equilibrio Perfecto Maritime. Until August 1, 2026 it flew the Russian flag and since then the false flag of Nicaragua. Despite the successive changes, the link to MG-Flot, which has close ties to the Russian state, appears to remain.
MG-Flot is not tied only to the Iranian missiles. In late 2025 a ship of the company also carried air-defence vehicles and related material from Iran to Russia, and its vessels have been involved in arms cargoes to and from North Korea. In September 2024 Washington imposed sanctions on Russian shipping companies and vessels, describing the shipment of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia as a “serious escalation” of Iranian support for the war against Ukraine.
Murmansk is one of Russia’s largest commercial ports, and large quantities of crude from Arctic fields leave from there, often transshipped within Kola Bay. Almost all the tankers exporting oil from the port belong to the so-called “shadow fleet,” which uses false flags to circumvent sanctions.
The Padre’s presence on the border coincides with stepped-up Norwegian surveillance in the North, where Oslo is deploying NASAMS sensors at Kirkenes, near the Russian border.