The Canadian owner of a freighter that has been detained by German customs authorities said they are working closely with authorities to ensure it can continue its voyage to the United States soon.
The ship, the Atlantic Navigator II, stopped at the Rostock harbour on Germany's Baltic Sea coast for repairs early last month.
The ship was reportedly on its way from Russia to the United States, but has been detained by German customs officials after they determined that goods on board the freighter violated European Union sanctions against Russia.
The ship belongs to the US-based operator ARRC Line, a subsidiary of Canadian shipping firm CISN. A spokeswoman for the firm told dpa that the CISN Shipping Group attaches great importance to strict compliance with all relevant laws.
The Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources, that the ship had left Russia and was on its way to the US with a cargo of birch wood and enriched uranium for US nuclear power plants, among other things.
The CISN spokeswoman said that the company is the "only marine carrier licensed to transport Class 7 goods, such as Cobalt 60 and low enriched uranium" on the trans-Atlantic route between Russia and the US.
She added that the cargo is critical for "health-care services delivery, food safety and energy security in North America and Europe."
The company has been working closely with authorities in the US, the United Kingdom and Canada to ensure that it complies with all relevant sanctions and can keep operating the transport service, the company said.
The EU imposed massive sanctions on Russia in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.