Biggest set of sanctions to date ‘unleashed’ by UK
Foreign office targets 18 crude oil tankers and four gas carriers as it targets Russia’s dark fleet
The latest sanctions are part of Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s ‘personal mission to crack down on the full spectrum of Russian malign activity’, the Foreign Office said
THE UK has announced its biggest wave of sanctions yet as it takes on Russia’s dark fleet*.
No less than 22 vessels have been sanctioned by the Foreign Office, 18 oil tankers and four gas carriers.
Sovcomflot in particular has been affected by this latest raft, with seven of its vessels listed in today’s announcement.
Vessels listed on the sanctions list are barred form entering UK ports and can be detained if they do, nor can they access UK maritime services. The total number of oil tankers now sanctioned by the UK is now 43.
Russian gas company, Rusgazdobycha JSC, has also been sanctioned in this latest wave.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said his administration “must combat malign Russian activity at every turn, whether illicit tactics to bolster Putin’s war chest, their use of cyber-attacks or barbarism on the front line in Ukraine”.
“The UK is leading the charge against Putin’s desperate and dangerous attempts to cling on to his energy revenues, with his shadow fleet placing coastlines across Europe and the world in jeopardy,” he said.
“I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal.”
Separately, the Department for Transport is working with the Joint Maritime Security Centre and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to challenge dark fleet vessels in the English Channel with suspected “dubious insurance” to provide insurance details.
* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned and/or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined in US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned.
Download our explainer on the different risk profiles of the dark fleet here
