Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "A new stage of Russian hybrid warfare" video.

Inspections could slow down shipping enough to be a “semi-blockade” of St. Petersburg and it wouldn’t be an act of war. It would strangle a lot of trade to Russia. What would be the Russian response at that point? For example, would they use military escorts of ships and ignore inspections? I think Finland, Estonia, and other Baltic nations should impose a heavy inspection regime (including surveillance of Russia’s and China’s “alternative commercial fleet”, aka the Dark Fleet). But there must be coordinated plans to address the response, and so on. With regard to the territorial waters aspect, there are no “international waters” in the area in question. It’s all territorial waters, either Estonia’s or Finland’s waters. International law dictates that peaceful commercial shipping has the right of free passage through these territorial waters of Finland and Estonia. At the same time, both nations have the right to inspect ships passing through their waters. Russia and China have certainly given Finland and Estonia cause to impose a strict inspection regime on all ships entering St. Petersburg.
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@kasperwittrup1288 You’re correct in all but one thing. These are territorial waters. International law still provides for free passage for “innocent” commercial shipping. But international law also permits nations to conduct law enforcement activities in their territorial waters, such as inspections. Finland and Estonia each have the right to inspect each and every ship passing through its waters. I think the pilot requirement some are suggesting is a non-starter. But inspections, especially of “suspicious” ships, could put a real kink in Russian economic activity in St. Petersburg. It’s not a blockade, since Finland and Estonia would allow inspected ships to continue their voyages. With regards as to the type of inspections, the Finish (and Estonian, Swedish, Danish, Latvian, and Lithuanian) coastguard wouldn’t only be looking for criminal activity. They should also be equipment inspections to insure that the the inspected ships are seaworthy, mechanically sound, and safe for crew members. Such inspections can take quite a long time . . .
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@andrewmcalister3462 I’m not sure that alone would be effective. What is also needed is a much more stringent inspection regime of all commercial vessels transiting Finish and Estonian waters that are going to or coming from St. Petersburg. Sadly and coincidentally 😉, these black fleet tankers and cargo ships might be delayed weeks by inspections, strangling trade activity. It wouldn’t be a blockade (which is an act of war and to be avoided), but it would be almost as effective as a blockade (without war and within the limits of internationally recognized law enforcement activities).
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@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5 How? Militarily? A military blockade is an act of war. However, ship inspections in territorial waters is not war-like. It’s law enforcement. If Finish and Estonian coast guards conducted heavy inspections, it might have a similar effect as a blockade, but it wouldn’t be a blockade. It would be completely legal in international law.
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Boarding for what purpose? I’ve got a good one: for the purpose of inspections. Not just for contraband, but for seaworthiness and safety. In other words, for law enforcement purposes, not military ones. The military needn’t be involved at all, except in cases where a ship refuses to yield. This comports with international law because it’s within territorial waters. The fact that a heavy and stringent inspection regime would strangle shipping into and out of St. Petersburg is just an unfortunate side effect. So sorry, Muscovy, that you can’t get your oil products shipped in a timely manner, but there’s been a rash of tankers having mechanical problems. I’m afraid we’ll have to inspect and catalogue every defect in maintenance and every piece of equipment not operating correctly. If you can reduce shipping into and out of St. Petersburg by (just to make up a number) 25%-50%, you’ve got a 50% effective blockade without the risks of war.
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