UK sanctions 100 dark fleet tankers
- The UK government accused Russia’s dark fleet of damaging infrastructure through ‘reckless seafaring’
- UK has sanctioned more vessels than any other state
- Insurers also included on sanctions list
Norwegian insurer Ro Marine and Russian Soglasie have also been named on the UK sanctions list, the latter of which was recently authorised as an insurance provider by India’s Directorate General of Shipping
THE UK has sanctioned 100 tankers today in what it has been called its biggest ever package of sanctions against Russia’s dark fleet*.
With these new sanctions, the UK says it has sanctioned more dark fleet vessels than any other country.
Alongside those vessels targeted are several businesses, including Ro Marine and Soglasie. Ro Marine has been accused of providing insurance without the appropriate licence or registration by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority and was ordered to “stop illegal activities”.
Four people have been charged by Norwegian authorities as a result.
Russian insurer Soglasie, also added to the UK list today, was only recently listed as an approved insurer by the Indian Directorate General of Shipping, in another example of shipping’s ongoing bifurcation.
It joins fellow sanctioned entities Ingosstrakh and Alfastrakhovanie on the approved list, proving that what is deemed valid insurance depends on where you sit along widening geopolitical fault lines.
Now that several nations, including the EU, have said they will start demanding insurance information from vessels in their waters, the concept of the validity of blue cards is becoming just as important as it is subjective.
Both Ro Marine and Soglasie have been sanctioned because they either benefit from or support the Russian government through business in a strategic sector, the UK Treasury said, namely the financial services sector.
Joining them on the list are businesses Nord Axis and BX (Bellatrix Energy), which is also sanctioned by the US.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer will make the announcement at a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force in Oslo, which includes Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Starmer’s office accused Russia’s dark fleet not just of “bankrolling the Kremlin’s illegal war in Ukraine”, but also of damaging undersea infrastructure through “reckless seafaring”.
There have been several notable cable cutting incidents in the Baltic Sea over the past few months, including that of Eagle S (IMO: 9329760), which appears on Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s dark fleet watch list.
The protection of subsea infrastructure is expected to be a key part of the leaders’ discussion at the JEF, which monitors 22 areas of interest including the English Channel, Baltic Sea and Kattegat through the Nordic Warden reaction system.
The aim of this latest and biggest set of sanctions is to increase pressure on Russia and achieve a “just and sustainable peace in Ukraine”, Starmer said.
“The threat from Russia to our national security cannot be underestimated, that is why we will do everything in our power to destroy his shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives.
“My government will safeguard working people from paying the price from the costly threat Putin’s fleet poses to UK critical national infrastructure and the environment,” he said.
Seasearcher links: Afkada (IMO: 9311531), Akar West (IMO: 9258167), Alissa (IMO: 9273052), Aquarius II (IMO: 9346873), Arabesca (IMO: 9288734), Arlan (IMO: 9227443), Atlanticos (IMO: 9282986), C Viking (IMO: 9261657), Carcharodon (IMO: 9258882), Carcharodon (IMO: 9258882), Caruzo (IMO: 9137648), Caruzo (IMO: 9137648), Chandra (IMO: 9353125), Cheetah II (IMO: 9222560), Clyde Noble (IMO: 9282792), Cordelia Moon (IMO: 9297888), Daphne I (IMO: 9251456), Deliver (IMO: 9194983), Deneb (IMO: 9301524), East 1 (IMO: 9240885), Elephant (IMO: 9374868), Elephant (IMO: 9374868), Elise (IMO: 9277747), Enigma (IMO: 9333412), Fiesta (IMO: 9260823), Fiora (IMO: 9282493), Fotuo (IMO: 9293959), Gauri (IMO: 9270749), Genji (IMO: 9289738), Gurudev (IMO: 9253234), Hatti (IMO: 9247883), Hera (IMO: 9326720), Himalaya (IMO: 9314882), Hu Po (IMO: 9319686), Ina (IMO: 9308443), Indras (IMO: 9314894), Indus 1 (IMO: 9360415), Izola (IMO: 9249312), JI LI I (IMO: 9384435), Ji Shun (IMO: 9384447), Kusto (IMO: 9308833), Lalique (IMO: 9247792), Lea I (IMO: 9277759), Lucky Fairy (IMO: 9348479), Maini (IMO: 9319870), Maisan (IMO: 9289776), Maisha (IMO: 9232929), Marabella Sun (IMO: 9323376), Marble (IMO: 9323974), MD Miranda (IMO: 9198290), Millerovo (IMO: 9035541), Nachos (IMO: 9330604), Narcissus (IMO: 9232931), Naxos (IMO: 9336426), Neon (IMO: 9183295), Oasis (IMO: 9265756), Odune (IMO: 9229374), Olive (IMO: 9318034), Pacificos (IMO: 9288930), Quartanus (IMO: 9247443), Raven (IMO: 9205067), Rigel (IMO: 9296406), Saathi (IMO: 9402732), Saint (IMO: 9263198), Sandhya (IMO: 9352195), Saturn I (IMO: 9655470), Sea Marine 1 (IMO: 9255830), Sea Maverick (IMO: 9265885), Seal (IMO: 9263186), Sealion I (IMO: 9234501), Sezar (IMO: 9259991), Shaanxi (IMO: 9338905), Sofia K (IMO: 9299123), Sofos (IMO: 9278064), Soul (IMO: 9263203), Sprit (IMO: 9248796), Tai Shan (IMO: 9405057), Tendua (IMO: 9299862), Thane (IMO: 9237228), Themis (IMO: 9264570), Thya (IMO: 9283289), Tiburon (IMO: 9283291), Trend (IMO: 9231509), Vayu 1 (IMO: 9290517), Venetians (IMO: 9436018), Venus III (IMO: 9599353), Volans (IMO: 9422988), Wu Tai (IMO: 9419151), Wudi (IMO: 9335094), Xing Chen (IMO: 9550682), Xue Song (IMO: 9428358), Yi Tong (IMO: 9259733), Zangazur (IMO: 9420617), WU Tong (IMO: 9306627), Reus (IMO: 9253076), Voula (IMO: 9290828), Beast (IMO: 9290921), Cai Yun (IMO: 9437983), Bonifacy (IMO: 9284726), Fuga Bluemarine (IMO: 9235725), Blue Talu (IMO: 9334557), Blue (IMO: 9236353)
* 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.
