Refrigerator vessel Matterhorn with Russian crew detained by French authorities on suspicion of oil spill

On May 25, French authorities returned the refrigerator vessel Matterhorn to Brest on suspicion of oil spill – an oil slick (14 miles long and 200 m wide) tailed after the vessel. Matterhorn which left Kaliningrad for Canary Islands disobeyed the first order to alter the course and to go to Brest. According to Maritime Bulletin – Sovfracht, the vessel was stopped with the help of a helicopter of French Naval Forces. 

As of May 18 the crew numbered 22 persons (ITF data), all of them are citizens of Russia. 9,752-dwt Matterhorn was built in 1985, flag of Liberia, operator Eastwind (Hellas) S.A. (Greece).