Low on Fuel, Russian Frigate Drifts in the English Channel

A Russian frigate stationed in the English Channel, which was not on hand to impede the Royal Navy’s seizure on June 14 of the sanctioned Cameroon-flagged Aframax Smyrtos (IMO 9389100), appears to be running very low on fuel.

The frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich (F494), the lead ship of its namesake class and launched in 2014, has frequently been seen recently in the English Channel and Western Approaches, the more so since Russia has perceived that tankers carrying Russian oil are at risk of seizure. On several occasions she has been refueled, not by one of the numerous oilers equipped for the task and which support far-distant Russian Navy deployments, but by a Project 304 Amur-class floating repair ship, normally used to provide dockside workshop facilities when supporting long-range deployments. Although equipped with five-tonne cranes, the Amur-class vessels are not equipped for conducting replenishments at sea, and have been spotted instead coming alongside the frigate Admiral Grigorovich and conducting makeshift fuel transfer operations at sea. The Admiral Grigorovich does not appear to be equipped with a Ka-27 helicopter, which other ships of the same class often are, and which might help with replenishment tasks.

In an incident in foggy conditions in the English Channel on June 16, the Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots at a British-flagged yacht, the Bright Future (MMSI 235086766). Although the skipper of the Bright Future claimed he was not on a collision course, the British Ministry of Defence described the firing of warning shots as a normal procedure if closing on a warship. The Admiral Grigorovich was drifting at the time of the incident, presumably to save fuel.

The Admiral Grigorovich was back shadowing Russian tankers through the Channel on June 18, escorting the OFAC and UK sanctioned Russian-flagged Aframax Forwarder (IMO 9419448), which had loaded 730,000 barrels of Urals crude at Ust Luga on June 2 and is bound for Dongying in China. The two Russian ships were shadowed on their way through the Channel by HMS Tyne (P281), without any attempt to repeat the seizure operation carried out earlier in the week against the Aframax Smyrtos (IMO 9389100). The seized Smyrtos is being kept at anchor off Weymouth, in part to ensure that its crew cannot claim asylum in the UK. Three other Aframax tankers which had loaded at Ust-Luga and Primorsk also passed through the Channel on June 18, but were not on any sanctions list, namely the Palau-flagged Visund (IMO 9378864), the Barbados-flagged Aequora Fortune (IMO 9297503) and the Maltese-flagged Hellas Calafia (IMO 9798088).

The Russian Navy is clearly under pressure, and having to prioritize its tasks carefully. Russian tankers are now at risk from the Ukrainian long-range sanctions program not only in the Black Sea, but now also in the Mediterranean. Increasing numbers of European countries are intercepting Russian dark fleet tankers in the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the English Channel. Seizures are not yet taking place when dark fleet tankers are being escorted by Russian warships, which is putting greater pressure on the Russian Navy to find escorts in sufficient numbers, but at a time when Russian warships are themselves also being attacked by Ukrainian drones.