Since October 2023, 40 tankers transporting Russian oil have been added to the US sanctions list. They are part of the fleet of the Russian state company Sovkomflot and Hennesea Holdings Ltd
Almost all Russian oil tankers that have been sanctioned for violating price restrictions are idle and not used for their intended purpose after the sanctions were imposed. This shows that the US is capable of disrupting the Russian oil supply chain if it wants to, writes Bloomberg .
“Sanctions and price caps imposed on Russia have been criticized for being too easy to circumvent, given how large its crude oil flows remain. However, the inaction of the fleet shows that the measures taken against individual ships can be effective ,” the newspaper writes.
Since October 2023, 40 tankers transporting Russian oil have been added to the US sanctions list. They are part of the fleet of the Russian state-owned company Sovcomflot and Hennesea Holdings Ltd, which is based in the UAE.
Some of the Russian tankers are at anchor in Vladivostok and Nakhodka, others are in the Black Sea with transponders turned off or in the Baltic Sea. Only one of them – SCF Primorye – was loaded after being sanctioned.
Hennesea tankers are also mostly idle – mostly off the coast of China, South Korea or Egypt.
Bloomberg points out that the four dozen tankers are just a small part of a shadow fleet created by the Russians using proxy companies to circumvent service restrictions
