Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "PATRIA", probable "Ex. Syrian Express" used for the transport of military equipment from Russia.
- RFN- OS
- May 4
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
The Ro Ro Cargo “PATRIA” left Baltiysk, Russia, on 30.04.2025 for an unknown destination. The merchant ship is sailing together with the MV Siyane Severa and both are escorted by the Russian corvette Boikiy 532, Stereghchiy class.
Given the way in which the transit is taking place, under escort, it is assumed that the merchant ships are heading towards Syria to recover the remaining Russian military material present in the Naval Base of TARTUS (ex. Syrian Express).
The vessel PATRIA, in the last year, has been used in the Baltic area, where it shuttled between the ports of Baltiysk - Kaliningrad - Sankt-Peterburg - Lomonosov – Kronshtadt almost certainly for the transport of military equipment. In February 2024 it would have made a stop in the port of Vladivostok on 2024-01-25 and then Singapore (2024-02-16) always remaining in the Asian area (map below).
Therefore it does not appear to have been used in Syria .... so far.
Visited ports
Busan (Republic of Korea), Kaliningrad (russia), Korsakov (russia), Nakhodka (russia), Nantong (PRC), Pevek (russia), Qingdao Gang (PRC), Sankt-Peterburg (russia), Taicang (PRC), Ulsan (Republic of Korea), Vladivostok (russia), Vostochnyy (russia), Svetly (russia), Kronstadt (russia), Egvekinot (russia), Bronka (russia), Anadyr (russia), Wei Hai Harbour (PRC), Mys Pospelova (russia)
Vessel information
The vessel is affiliated with the sanctioned russian company PJSC Sakhalin shipping company, one of the largest russian shipping companies in the Far East, which is among the top 100 largest container shipping companies in the world, is one of the leaders in terms of cabotage traffic and an important link in export and import traffic with the Asia-Pacific region. It is part of the Delo Group of companies (affiliated with Rosatom State Corporation), with 58.67% of its shares owned by the sanctioned PJSC TransContainer, russia's largest railway container operator providing a full range of transport and logistics services in integration with other Delo Group assets.
The vessels of PJSC Sakhalin shipping company are involved in the development of future large-scale russian energy facilities, the delivery of relevant construction materials and equipment by sea to the Taimyr Peninsula, and the expansion of russia's trade routes to new foreign jurisdictions to replace the economic ties lost after russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In July 2023, USA imposed sanctions on 14 vessels, including the "Patria".
Current position
Summary
Cargo / Container ship
Callsign: UBVP6
Gross Tonage: 5825
DWT: 5795
Builder: Pendik Shipyard
Owner: Sakhalin Shipping Co (SASCO)
TEU: 619
Length: 101
Width: 19
Year Build: 1999
Country: Russian Federation
Last seen: May 2, 16:30
Status: under way using engine
Load information - Information taken from open sources not to be considered 100% reliable
From the graph it is clear that on April 17 it loaded containers (draught (m) from 6.2 to 7).
On the day of departure it returned to the draught of 6.2 meters so during the stop it unloaded some material.
Doing a quick calculation, with the help of ChatGPT:
- the weight loss of about 660 tons corresponds approximately to:
33 x 20-foot containers (TEU)
25 x 40-foot containers (FEU)
The moment a stop is made, we will see the difference.
Conclusions, the MV PATRIA is most likely heading towards Syria, but given the previous port calls, it could continue towards other countries where Russia is transferring military equipment (Wagner or Africa Corps) or receives them as from North Korea.
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