2023-06-03 17:32:14
Oil tanker in the port of Novorossiysk, one of the largest oil and petroleum products facilities in southern Russia
Image: dpa
Russia’s government wants to export oil. Western corporations, however, are not allowed to insure the tankers they need. Hundreds of ships sail that are hardly seaworthy.
Dhe second largest port in the world begins to crack down on the dreaded “shadow fleet”. At the same time, Allianz insurance warns of the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for shipping and the environment. The owners of the tankers carrying Russian oil are using perfidious methods to cover up the breaking of sanctions.
“The so-called shadow fleet allows Russia to effectively sell its oil but without insurance. Of the roughly 900 large or ultra-large tankers operating worldwide, about 20 percent violated sanctions against Iran, Venezuela and, increasingly, Russia,” the insurers observe. In total, the shadow fleet is estimated at around 600 tankers. Only their use enables sanctioned countries to continue to operate a flourishing oil trade. “Russia and its allies are trying to circumvent the sanctions,” says the latest “Safety and Shipping Review” from Munich. “Russia has brought together a fleet of around a hundred ships to transport its oil. And it may have access to another 200 ships from countries like Venezuela and North Korea.”
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