Russia’s Sovcomflot is renaming oil tankers Hit by US sanctions

Russia’s state-owned oil tanker company renamed some of its ships after cities in the country following sanctions by the US. 

Sovcomflot PJSC was sanctioned in February as part of measures from the US to mark the second year of the war in Ukraine. Fourteen of its tankers were also added to the Treasury Department’s list of named vessels, bringing the total number of them designated to 21. 

The tankers also switched their flags to Russia from Gabon, a step that will give Russia greater certainty about how it can use them. While the renaming may strike a defiant tone, it will nevertheless make the vessels — and their associations with Russia — more blatant.

In addition to assembling a shadow fleet of ships to transport its oil while under western sanctions, Russia has relied heavily on Sovcomflot’s giant tanker fleet to keep its oil moving. The company remains the world’s largest owner of Aframax-class tankers, each capable of hauling about 700,000 barrels of oil, according to Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker. 

So far, at least four tankers have changed their names and reflagged to Russia from Gabon, according to data compiled by Bloomberg:

Tankers often change names after being sanctioned in order to distance themselves from listings on sanctions databases, although they remain identifiable by unique and unchanging numbers registered with the International Maritime Organization.