Ship loaded with Russian coal docks in Spanish port of Gijon

MADRID (Reuters) -A Maltese-flagged ship carrying Russian coal and petroleum coke has docked in the northern Spanish port of Gijon, port authorities said on Monday.

Another Maltese-flagged ship, loaded with Russian crude, docked in Cartagena, southern Spain, on Friday, authorities confirmed.

The European Union approved sanctions against imports of coal, wood, chemicals and other products such as vodka from Russia on April 8 in a bid to cut trade after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, although the sanctions are not yet fully enforced.

Russian ships are banned from calling in Spanish ports, a transport ministry spokesperson said on Monday, but the EU ban on vessels from other countries loaded with Russian goods is not in force yet, she added.

On April 27, another Maltese-flagged vessel tried to enter the Port of Barcelona but was denied access because it was carrying cargo transferred from a Russian ship under sanctions, Spain’s Transport Ministry said in a statement at the time.

(Reporting by Christina Thykjaer; Editing by Alex Richardson, Edmund Blair and David Evans)