Despite cooperation between London and its allies on sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is increasing its means of circumventing them, including by creating a “fleet of ghost tankers”, according to a British parliamentary report published on Wednesday and cited by AFP.

“We are concerned by the growing evidence that Russia has been able to circumvent sanctions, including through third country fleets and phantom oil tankers,” wrote the House of Lords Committee on European Affairs, which was responsible for preparing the report.

In this regard, “Britain and its allies must take decisive action”, the report also states.

Oil embargo, Russian crude price cap, including ban on delivery services (trading, freight, insurance, shipowners, etc.) for companies based in the EU, G7 and Australia, similar mechanism for oil tanker products… many western sanctions were designed to hit Russia’s financial boom.

To circumvent these sanctions, Moscow has reduced its reliance on Western shipping services by building a “ghost fleet” of oil tankers and buying old ships to provide its own insurance services, according to Rystad Energy.

“In November 2023, 179 full oil tankers of the Russian shadow fleet left Russian ports,” says the December report of the “Russian Oil Tracker” of the Ukrainian Economic Institute KSE (Kyiv).

As of October 2023, the phantom fleet allowed exports of about 2.3 million barrels per day of crude oil and 800,000 barrels per day of refined products, according to KSE data.

In addition, the parliamentary report points out that “gaps are the result of differences between sanctions regimes, which weaken their effectiveness”, calling for them to be “as limited as possible”.

photo: Harshit Srivastava | Dreamstime.com