Moscow’s use of the tankers sanctioned for their involvement in the Russian oil trade is accelerating, with close to one-third of the blacklisted vessels back at work, the Bloomberg publication reports.
This was reported by the CFTS portal, citing the publication Economic Pravda.
According to the report, at least 21 of the 72 tankers sanctioned by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the UK Treasury, or the European Union in the past year have loaded a total of 24 cargoes of Russian oil since they were sanctioned.
A combination of increased confidence from buyers and, in particular, a lack of concern about measures imposed by London have likely helped Moscow and its customers to find workarounds, the report stated.
The rate at which the tankers are being brought back into operation is increasing, with at least seven taking on cargoes in the first ten days of October, according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That is up from six in August and September and just five in total before that.
Initially, the blacklisted tankers remained idle. None of the sanctioned vessels carried a single cargo of Russian or any other oil until April — six months after the first sanctioned ships were named. Since those first cargoes were delivered successfully, the use of the sanctioned tankers has soared.
According to the report, two-thirds of all the ships sanctioned by the UK are now back in operation. In contrast, just six cargoes have been carried on four of the 39 tankers blacklisted by Washington.
Separately, 50 of the ships have been renamed since being sanctioned, many being re-flagged at the same time.
Most of the crude cargoes have headed to Chinese ports, but about one-third have ended up in India - a sign that the country’s previous reluctance to deal with sanctioned entities is now a thing of the past.
