On Wednesday, the UK sanctioned a further 10 tankers owned by Sovcomflot for breaching the oil price cap imposed on Russian oil and shipping. The company decries such sanctions as being completely counter-productive, arguing that trying to outlaw some ships has merely hot-housed the growth of a so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers

Elderly ship is one of 30 linked to Radiating World Shipping Services and Star Voyage Shipping Services, listed by the UK government last December. Seven of the 30 tankers have been directly sanctioned this year

Four Sovcomflot tankers designated by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control in February loaded cargoes in August, along with a fifth ship sanctioned by the EU last June

Hafnia’s inability to ‘directly communicate’ with those behind the vessel Ceres I underscores the risks for vessels transiting through South China Sea. At present, as many as 40 elderly, anonymously owned and poorly regulated tankers are storing sanctioned oil in that area and appear to be manipulating vessel-tracking signals

Greece-owned ships that comprise 17% of the global fleet accounted for more than 30% of vessels attacked by drones, missiles and other weapons in the Red Sea, underscoring the risks faced by Western shipowners who continue to transit the chokepoint

Sale to undisclosed breakers at discounted price valued the tanker at $9m. The UAE banned all Eswatini-flagged tankers from its ports in the past month, where the 112,210 dwt tanker had been at anchorage at Khor Fakkan since March