Archive
Shadow fleet news in 2023
26 summaries of reporting on sanctioned seaborne trade in 2023, newest first.
Dec · Nov · Oct · Sep · Aug · Jun · May · Apr · Mar · Feb · Jan
December 2023
- US sanctions Sovcomflot manager and three oil traders, tightens price cap guidance
The US Treasury on 20 December sanctioned UAE-based SUN Ship Management, owned by Russia's state shipping company Sovcomflot, which it says manages the tanker SCF Primorye. It also designated…
- EU's 12th sanctions package tightens price cap compliance and tanker sales
The EU Council adopted its 12th package of sanctions against Russia on 18 December, including tighter compliance rules to support the oil price cap and curb circumvention. The Council says a…
- US sanctions 13 targets moving Iranian commodity revenue to the Houthis
The US Treasury on 7 December designated 13 individuals and entities it says funnelled tens of millions of dollars in foreign currency from the sale of Iranian commodities to the Houthis in…
- US sanctions three more tankers carrying Russian Urals crude above the price cap
The US on 1 December sanctioned three companies and their tankers for carrying Russian oil above the price cap, gCaptain reports. The targets are UAE-based Sterling Shipping, owner of NS…
November 2023
- KSE Institute counts 185 loaded shadow fleet tankers leaving Russia in October
Some 185 loaded shadow fleet tankers left Russian ports in October, 72% of them built more than 15 years ago, according to the KSE Institute's Russian Oil Tracker published on 30 November. The…
- US sanctions three UAE shipowners and tankers over Russian price cap breaches
The US Treasury on 16 November sanctioned three UAE-based companies, Kazan Shipping Incorporated, Progress Shipping Company Limited and Gallion Navigation Incorporated, and identified their…
- EU plans to have Denmark check uninsured Russian oil tankers in its straits, FT reports
The EU is planning to instruct Denmark to inspect and possibly block tankers carrying Russian oil through its waters, European Pravda reports, citing the Financial Times. According to the FT's…
- US sanctions Russia's Arctic LNG 2 export project
The United States on 2 November imposed sanctions on Arctic LNG 2, a large Siberian project built to export liquefied natural gas worldwide, as part of a package targeting hundreds of people and…
October 2023
- US eases Venezuela oil and gas sanctions for six months after electoral deal
The US Treasury on 18 October issued a six-month general licence temporarily authorising transactions with Venezuela's oil and gas sector, the Associated Press reports. It also authorised…
- Satellite images show Russian ships shuttling North Korean cargo to Far East port, RUSI says
Two Russian-flagged cargo ships, Angara and Maria, have made at least five round trips since mid-August between North Korea's Rajin port and a secure facility at Dunai in Russia's Far East,…
- US blocks two tankers and their owners over Russian oil price cap breaches
The US Treasury on 12 October sanctioned UAE-based Lumber Marine SA and Türkiye-based Ice Pearl Navigation Corp, registered owners of the tankers SCF Primorye and Yasa Golden Bosphorus, and…
September 2023
- CREA finds shadow tankers now carry 42% of Russia's seaborne oil
Tankers owned and insured outside price cap countries carried 42% of oil leaving Russian ports in July 2023, up from 13% before the invasion of Ukraine, according to a briefing published on 25…
- US confiscates Iranian crude from tanker Suez Rajan in first criminal case of its kind
The US Justice Department says it has disrupted an Iranian oil shipment by seizing more than 980,000 barrels of crude carried by the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Suez Rajan, gCaptain reports.…
August 2023
- Ukrainian sea drone strikes US-sanctioned Russian tanker SIG near Kerch Strait
A Ukrainian sea drone hit the Russian tanker SIG near the Kerch Strait early on 5 August, Ship & Bunker reports, citing Interfax Ukraine and Ukrainian military sources. The drone was said to…
June 2023
- EU's 11th package bars from its ports tankers in suspect ship-to-ship transfers
The EU adopted its 11th package of sanctions against Russia on 23 June, adding port bans aimed at evasion at sea, the European Commission said. Vessels will be refused access to EU ports if they…
May 2023
- Lloyd's Register to withdraw class from 21 Gatik tankers
Lloyd's Register has told India's Gatik Ship Management, which has become a major carrier of Russian oil since the invasion of Ukraine, that it will withdraw certification from 21 of its vessels…
- UN experts find North Korea breached fuel import cap via tanker deliveries
A UN Security Council panel of experts says nearly 800,000 barrels of refined petroleum were delivered to North Korea's western port of Nampo over eight months of 2022, against an annual UN cap…
- Explosion wrecks uninsured tanker Pablo off Malaysia
An explosion and fire tore through the Gabon-registered tanker Pablo in the South China Sea off Malaysia, Bloomberg reported on 7 May; 25 of its 28 crew were rescued by passing ships. The…
April 2023
- Iran seizes Chevron-chartered tanker as US moves on Iranian oil cargo
Iranian forces boarded the Marshall Islands-registered tanker Advantage Sweet from helicopters in the Gulf of Oman on 27 April and took it into Iranian waters, according to Maritime Executive…
March 2023
- Ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil hit record in February, S&P Global data show
At least 22 million barrels of Russian crude and diesel were moved through ship-to-ship transfers in February, a record and 3.8 million barrels more than in January, S&P Global Commodity…
February 2023
- Russia's shadow tanker fleet could total 600 ships, Trafigura estimates
A $2.2 billion fleet of often older tankers has been assembled to keep Russian crude and fuel exports flowing, Bloomberg reported on 20 February. Commodity trader Trafigura estimates the shadow…
- Spain turns away tanker carrying diesel traced to formerly Russian-flagged ship
Spain has refused the Singapore-flagged tanker Maersk Magellan entry to the port of Tarragona because its diesel cargo originated from a Russian ship, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported on…
- US sanctions nine firms over Iranian petrochemical and oil sales to Asia
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 9 February sanctioned nine entities that it says helped produce, sell and ship hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian…
- G7 and Australia set $100 and $45 price caps on Russian oil products
The G7, the European Union and Australia announced two price caps on seaborne Russian petroleum products on 4 February: $100 a barrel for products that trade at a premium to crude and $45 for…
January 2023
- Venezuela's PDVSA suspends most oil export contracts, Reuters reports
The new head of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, Pedro Rafael Tellechea, has suspended most export contracts while they are reviewed, in a bid to avoid payment defaults, Reuters reported on…
- CREA estimates EU oil ban and price cap cost Russia €160m a day
The EU ban on Russian crude and the G7 price cap are costing Russia an estimated €160 million a day, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said on 11 January. It says Russia's…