At least seven oil tankers returned to waters off southern Greece to resume switching Russian petroleum cargoes after drills in the area by local navy came to an end.

The exercises in the Laconian Gulf were due to conclude on Sunday and there are now no notices of naval activity on the website of the Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service. When the activities began, multiple vessels headed south instead.

The Laconian Gulf has become an important logistics hub for enabling Russia to get its oil to the world. It’s in a relatively sheltered area where Greece’s territorial waters only stretch six miles out to sea, meaning that the cargo switching takes place in a location where it’s difficult for Athens to intervene.  

The navy had been carrying out exercises in the area with a view to driving the tankers away, but the return of the vessels shows how challenging it will be to enforce that.