Liberia removes all remaining Sovcomflot vessels from flag
Around 50 vessels controlled by Russian tanker giant Sovcomflot have been removed form the Liberian register
‘Sovcomflot is not a client that the registry considers appropriate to flag,’ says LISCR official as the US Treasury announces that it has sanctioned Sovcomflot’s Dubai arm
RUSSIAN tanker giant Sovcomflot has been expelled from the Liberian flag amid growing pressure from US and coalition governments on flag states to distance themselves from Russian clients.
Lloyd’s list understands that around 50 remaining Sovcomflot-owned vessels will all be removed from the Liberian register within the next week.
Liberia has been a stronghold for Sovcomflot vessels for nearly 20 years and while several ships have moved to other flags in the wake of sanctions designations in the EU, UK and more recently US, Liberia had sustained strong links with Sovcomflot as an entity until now.
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control announced on Wednesday that it had added Sovcomflot’s Dubai arm, SUN Ship Management (D) Limited to its list of sanctioned entities.
The move to expel Sovcomflot, however, pre-dates that announcement and Lloyd’s List understands that legal letters were sent to Sovcomflot informing them of their removal several days ago.
Sovcomflot has declined to comment on the expulsion and it is not known where the vessels will be moved to.
A spokesman for the Liberian register said that the decision to remove the remaining vessels was based on the flag’s “due diligence”, adding that: “Sovcomflot is not a client that the registry considers appropriate to flag.”
Liberia has previously removed specific vessels in relation to sanction designations, including seven tankers that were targeted by Ofac last month for allegedly trading in Russian crude sold above the price cap of $60 per barrel. Six of those tanker had been owned by Sovcomflot.
That process is standard for all tankers caught up in specific sanctions and would generally take 15 to 25 days to work through. This latest fleet-wide expulsion, however , is likely to be pushed through much more swiftly and could see the entire Sovcomflot fleet deflagged before Christmas.
The US has recently been urging flag states to take action on alleged price cap breaches and last month sent letters to Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands requesting they take action.
