MEKHANIK MAKARIN

The vessel can carry any type of lumber, logs, bulk grain, Class A and Class C cargo, and general cargo, except for cargo classified under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.
Since December 2023, the vessel has been operating on the St. Petersburg– Kaliningrad route, transporting goods prohibited for rail transit by Lithuania. In June 2024, the vessel made its first call at the closed port of Sevastopol (temporarily occupied territory – TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled, and also called at the port of Feodosiya (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine). In October and December 2024, the vessel was involved in transporting wheat from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region (Ukraine). In January 2025, the vessel was present in Sevastopol Bay and Komyshova Bay with AIS disabled.
The vessel is affiliated with the sanctioned russian company OJSC Northern Shipping Company (ОАО "Северное морское пароходство", TIN 2901008432), which provides services under state defence contracts for the transportation of goods on behalf of the russian ministry of defence. Since 2014, the company has been an active participant in a major logistics chain for the development of infrastructure in the Arctic under contracts with the russian ministry of defence. OJSC Northern Shipping Company also conducts maritime cargo transportation under contract for the sanctioned State Grain Operator State Unitary Enterprise (ГУП "Государственный зерновой оператор", TIN 9001011019), registered in the TOT of Zaporizhzhia region, Melitopol.
In May 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on OJSC Northern Shipping Company and 27 of its vessels, including the vessel IMO 8904379, due to their involvement in the military logistics sector of the russian federation, transporting tanks and other military equipment for the russian armed forces.