The UK has imposed sanctions on 10 ships it says are part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, a group of ships that resort to illegal practices to evade sanctions on Russian oil.
The new sanctions are aimed at further reducing Russian oil revenues, the most critical source of funding for Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.
The statement said the sanctions targeted ships that undermine sanctions and facilitate Russia’s oil trade. It is the third time the government has used its special powers to impose sanctions on individual ships.
According to the UK, the targeted ships are all ‘high-volume offenders’. They work around the clock to transport as much Russian oil as possible.
They will now be banned from entering UK ports and denied access to the UK Ship Register.
Just 3 of the ships, NICOLAY ZUYEV (IMO 9610781), NS ASIA (IMO 9413561) and ZALIV ANIVA (IMO 9418494), have carried Russian oil worth more than $5 billion in total since Russia’s full-scale illegal invasion began.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Putin’s war machine is funded by a shadowy and illegal economic system that this government is determined to destabilize. Today’s sanctions further undermine Russia’s ability to trade oil through its shadow fleet. Together with our partners, we will continue to send a strong message to Russia that the international community stands with Ukraine and we will not tolerate this illegal fleet. Russia had to spend more than 8 billion dollars to create this shadow fleet. But with sanctioned tankers adrift and unable to load oil, we are determined to make Putin’s investment an expensive misstep for the Kremlin. Our action will help counter Russia’s attempts to weaken and circumvent economic sanctions.”
With this ‘step, the number of shadow fleet’ ships increased to 25.
Here are the ships on the latest sanctions list:
NIKOLAY ZUYEV (IMO 9610781)
NS CLIPPER (IMO 9341081)
NS CORONA (IMO 9341079)
ZALIV ANIVA (IMO 9418494)
OLYMPIYSKY PROSPECT (IMO 9511387)
LEONID LOZA (IMO 9412347)
NS ASIA (IMO 9413561)
SCF BALTICA (IMO 9305568)
VLADIMIR TIKHONOV (IMO 9311622)
SCF VANKOR (IMO 9316127)
