Russia's largest shipping company renames US-sanctioned oil tankers

Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company, has renamed some of its oil tankers after they were hit by US sanctions.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: Bloomberg has reported that at least four tankers have now been renamed and reflagged to Gabon. The Kemerovo is now the NS Columbus, the Belgorod is NS Bravo, the Kaliningrad is NS Captain, and the Krasnoyarsk is NS Creation.

Oil tankers often change their names after being sanctioned to distance themselves from sanctions databases. However, they can still be identified by the unique and unchanging numbers registered with the International Maritime Organisation.

Bloomberg noted that Russia relies heavily on the Sovcomflot giant tanker fleet to transport its oil.

According to Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the world's largest shipbroker, the Russian company is still the world's largest owner of Aframax tankers, each capable of carrying about 700,000 barrels of oil.

Background:

• The United States, along with other G7 countries comprising the Price Cap Coalition, is working on additional measures to reduce Russia's ability to earn oil revenues, which the Kremlin spends on its war against Ukraine.
• The US ramped up its sanctions against a wide range of tankers carrying Russian oil in October 2023. Dozens of sanctioned tankers have been idle since then.
• Russian oil companies have faced delays in payment for oil and fuel for several months as banks in China, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates have become more cautious due to secondary sanctions imposed by the United States.

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