On the Bassin Vauban, at the foot of the ramparts of the old town of Saint-Malo, almost no one pays attention to the precision maneuver taking place below. A boat, which comes from the Jacques Cartier basin dedicated to commercial traffic, makes its entrance. THE Vladimir Latyshev, that’s its name, sports a Russian flag and a few words in Cyrillic on its hull. For more than a year he has been going back and forth between the basins, during these shifting operations. Like a plague ship that no one wants.
“It’s a kind of Tetris permanent. We have to move it constantly to allow other boats to unload their cargo,” sighs Etienne Le Nenan, from the lookout of the harbor master’s office. The commander with false airs of Colin Firth ensures the proper functioning of the Saint-Malo port.
On February 28, 2022, the Russian bulk carrier delivered 2,440 tons of magnesia to the fertilizer manufacturing company Timac. He cast off the moorings on the 1er March, when the customs of Saint-Malo arrested him. What do they blame him for? Its membership in the company JSC GTLK, whose sole shareholder is none other than the Russian Minister of Transport, Vitali Saveliev, added the day before to the list of frozen Russian assets adopted by the European Union.
141 meters of carcass, it shows
If, at the beginning of the war, several Russian ships were seized, such as the Baltic Leader in Boulogne-sur-Mer or the Pola Ariake in Lorient (under the Panamanian flag), there are only two left to bide their time in French ports: the Victor Andryukhin, in Marseilles, and the Vladimir Latyshev, in Saint Malo. In a port that can only accommodate buildings of less than 150 meters, 141 meters of carcass, it shows. Most of the time, the frozen steel giant in the corsair city therefore docks in the Jacques Cartier basin, out of sight.
“It must be as discreet as possible, it does not need to be seen by tourists”, is alarmed the sub-prefect of Saint-Malo, Philippe Brugnot. On the quays, the “Latyshev”, as it is nicknamed here, is certainly famous, but remains secret. Only rumors circulate concerning the crew, who must remain on board for maintenance operations and security issues.
In the noise of scrap metal from the Socarenam shipyard, the workers shrug their shoulders at his mention. “Here, we have Polish and Ukrainian subcontractors. There’s no problem, they get along with the Russian sailors, but from afar,” said one of the employees. Barely a few meters away, in his machining centre, Mickael Coutelle admits not having met the crew. Despite everything, he claims to have heard of it: “I can tell you that they are very happy to stay there and not have a gun in their hands. »
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