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Nearly a third of the tankers sanctioned by the U.S., UK, or EU last year for transporting Russian oil have returned to service, according to a Bloomberg report released earlier today. At least 21 out of 72 blacklisted tankers have collectively loaded cargoes of Russian oil 24 times, as per the publication.
The pace of these tankers returning to operation appears to be increasing. Ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg reveals that from Oct. 1 to 10, at least seven sanctioned tankers loaded Russian oil, marking an increase compared to prior months — up from six tankers in both August and September, and only five in total from the start of April through the end of July.
At first, the sanctioned tankers remained idle, with none transporting Russian or any other oil until April — six months after the initial sanctions were imposed. However, following the first successful deliveries, the use of these sanctioned tankers has surged.
The first sanctions were imposed by the U.S. on Oct. 12, 2023, targeting two vessels, SCF Primorye and Yasa Golden Bosphorus, for transporting Russian oil sold above the $60-per-barrel price cap put in place to limit Moscow’s oil revenues. The UK began blacklisting individual vessels in June 2024, followed by the EU later that month. A total of 73 ships were named in total, with one tanker, the Yasa Golden Bosphorus, removed from the U.S. sanctions list in April 2024.
Bloomberg notes that the majority of crude shipments have been directed to Chinese ports, while roughly one-third have arrived in India, indicating that New Delhi's earlier hesitance to engage with sanctioned entities may be a thing of the past.
An investigation by The Insider released on Sept. 24 identified one of the key players enabling the operation of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”: Latvian citizen Aleksejs Haļavins. Two entities affiliated with the businessman are known to have purchased oil from Russian oil company Surgutneftegaz at a price above the cap, bringing the Russian corporation an additional $1.4 billion in revenue. Other companies linked with Haļavins operated tankers carrying oil from Russia to India and China.
A recent study from the environmental NGO Greenpeace warned that the “shadow fleet” carrying Russian crude oil substantially raises the risk of a major spill in the Baltic Sea, with the German cities of Rostock, Lübeck, and Kiel particularly vulnerable.