Last week, the BBC reported that the British government is investigating 37 British businesses for violations of the sanctions on Russia. “It is understood some are likely to be maritime insurance firms,” reporter Jack Fenwick noted, reports Baird.
The Dark Tanker Fleet
The Group of Seven (G7) coalition has a US$60 per barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil, to restrict Moscow’s oil export revenues. The oil price cap bans G7 and European Union companies from providing transportation, insurance and financing services for Russian oil and oil products if they are sold above the US$60 cap. Other sanctions restrict dealings with Russian companies like Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft and with individuals associated with the Russian government, including many oligarchs.
We don’t know which companies are under scrutiny, but companies involved with the Dark Fleet of tankers transporting sanctioned Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan crude are facing increased scrutiny as Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine continue, along with credible allegations of the execution of yet more Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian troops.
So far, patient investigative journalists have taken the lead in looking at shipping’s ties to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
US$1.6 billion of possible consequences
The consequences of an incident involving the Dark Fleet are potentially very serious.
Last Thursday, Petras Katinas and Luke Wickenden of Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) published a hard-hitting report into the large volumes of oil transported by the Dark Fleet and the potential cleanup costs for an oil spill involving a Dark Fleet tanker. They estimated that such a pollution incident could cost “from US$859 million to US$1.6 billion” and that likely the costs would be borne by coastal countries as the Dark Fleet vessels “frequently operate with inadequate or no protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance.”
Since the start of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Dark Fleet tankers have been involved in 50 incidents, including in the Danish Straits and the Turkish Straits, as well as two serious incidents off Malaysia: the explosion of the Gabon-flagged Aframax Pablo in 2023, and the collision between the Sao Tome and Principe-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Ceres I and the Singapore-flagged product tanker Hafnia Nile earlier this year.
The latter incident resulted in the Hafnia vessel catching fire, and Ceres I being detained after it had switched off its AIS and departed the scene.
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe
Source: Baird
