UK piles more sanctions on fleet of tankers moving Russian oil

The UK placed sanctions on 11 more oil tankers that are helping Russia to export its supplies to customers, including some that are part of a shadow-fleet.

Eight are owned by Russia’s state-run oil tanker business, Sovcomflot PJSC, while three others bear the hallmarks of shadow-fleet vessels, according to an updated sanctions list. 

The designations mean that more than 60 oil tankers are now under sanction by US, UK or European Union authorities. Of the 11, two had already been targeted by the EU. The measures so far have seen the vast majority of the tankers in question stop collecting cargoes.

Since late October, western nations have been steadily sanctioning ships that have been exporting Russian oil, including the first step on dark fleet tankers announced last month. 

The Group of Seven and its allies are seeking to enforce a price cap on Russian exports that limits the use of western services if crude is above $60 a barrel. 

The UK plans to launch a call to action this week with a group of European nations to step up pressure on dark fleet ships. In addition to sanctions, an unspecified number of governments are set to endorse a plan to share information about the fleet, Bloomberg reported earlier this week. 

The ships sanctioned on Thursday were:

• Zaliv Amurskiy (IMO 9354313)
• SCF Amur (IMO 9333436), already EU sanctioned
• SCF Pechora (IMO 9333424)
• Korolev Prospect (IMO 9826902)
• Primorsky Prospect (IMO 9511533)
• Rocky Runner (IMO 9288899)
• Dynamik Trader (IMO 9286657)
• Adygeya (IMO 9292204)
• Fighter Two (IMO 9296391)
• NS Lotus (IMO 9339337), already EU sanctioned
• NS Commander (IMO 9306794)