UK Sanctions “High-Volume Offenders” in Russian Shadow Tanker Fleet
UK officials announced the country’s third round of tanker sanctions this time highlighting they were targeting “high-volume offenders” within the Russian shadow fleet. Saying the effort was designed to “crack down on Russian oil revenues” they listed 10 tankers all previously associated with SCF (Sovcomflot) and now managed by a company registered in Dubai.
“Today’s sanctions further undermine Russia’s ability to trade in oil via its shadow fleet,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy. “Russia has been forced to spend over $8 billion amassing this shadow fleet. But with sanctioned tankers loitering and unable to load oil, we are determined to make Putin’s investment an expensive misstep for the Kremlin.”
The UK contends that the previous sanctions launched since February 2022 and the start of the war in Ukraine have deprived Russia of more than $400 billion worth of assets and revenues. The UK has sanctioned over 2,000 individuals and entities and with new legal authority launched its efforts against the shadow fleet in July. With today’s action, the UK has listed a total of 25 tankers.
“Previous UK action against individual ‘shadow ships’ have left vessels materially disrupted, with the vast majority of them idling outside ports, and unable to carry on their trade in Russian oil,” the UK asserts in today’s announcement.
Of the 10 vessels listed, nine are among the group of ships transferred early in 2024 to the registry in Gabon. One remains registered in Panama.
All the ships were previously listed as being managed by SCF, but are now registered with management as Stream Ship Management FZCO of the UAE. The Equasis database shows the company managing 37 crude oil tankers starting in February and March 2024. The vessels are mostly classed by the Indian Register of Shipping or jointly with DNV or the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
The UK reports three of the vessels, Nikolay Zuyev (122,000 dwt), NS Asia (111,682 dwt), and Zaliv Aniva (102,900 dwt, and the only one registered in Panama) have collectively carried more than $5 billion worth of Russian oil since February 2022. The AIS signals from the three vessels show each currently in China.
Lammy said that Putin’s war machine is funded by a dark and illicit economic system and that the UK is committed to destabilizing. The vessels listed today are additions beyond the U.S. actions also targeting the shadow fleet.
The tanker sanctions come a day after a coordinated effort by the UK and U.S. targeting Russian cargo ships. The two countries listed a total of 13 cargo ships that they alleged were being used to transport missiles and other munitions from Iran to Russia.