US sanctions 183 vessels and two Russian insurers in sweeping oil action

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 183 vessels in one of its largest actions against Russia's oil trade, Seatrade Maritime News reports. They include 69 ships owned by state shipping company Sovcomflot, ten bunker tankers of Gazpromneft Marine Bunker and 13 vessels linked to Rosnefteflot; the rest fly flags such as Panama, Gabon, Sierra Leone and the Cook Islands. Insurers Ingosstrakh and Alfastrakhovanie were also listed. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the step built on efforts to cut the Kremlin's energy revenues. It came days before the change of US administration.

This is a summary in our own words of the linked reporting. Allegations are those of the source. How we report.