London tightens the screw again by drawing “the biggest package of sanctions” against Russia's “ghost fleet”. 30 new ships are subject to sanctions, British Foreign Minister David Lammy announced on Monday. “This underlines the UK’s commitment to Ukraine”supported the minister during a meeting with his G7 counterparts in Italy. The conflict will also be among the key topics of their discussions during these two days.
Concretely, these ships will no longer be able to enter British ports, may be detained and will be refused access to the British ship register. In total, British sanctions now target 73 ships, according to a statement from the Foreign Office.
Cut off Russia's supplies
This is the fifth time the UK has targeted Russia's 'ghost fleet'. According to the definition of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), this refers to either commercial vessels that are not owned by G7 or EU countries. Or commercial vessels which do not use P&I insurance (insurance specific to maritime transport which provides unlimited compensation for damage to third parties). Russia uses them to “circumvent UK and G7 sanctions and continue unimpeded trade in Russian oil”specifies the British government.
England once again sanctions the Russian “ghost fleet”
The Russian ghost fleet would thus be made up of around 600 ships. They would transport nearly 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, according to British estimates dating from July. Half of the 30 newly sanctioned vessels transported more than $4.3 billion (€4.1 billion) worth of oil and petroleum products over the past year, the press release said.
“Oil revenues are a crucial source of funding for the Kremlin’s illegal war in Ukraine,” recalls the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. And to add: “This measure will further limit the Kremlin’s ability to finance its illegal war in Ukraine and its malign activities around the world.”
David Lammy is thus committed to “work with [les] partners of the G7 and beyond to exert incessant pressure on the Kremlin.” Which, according to him, involves “interrupt the flow of money into its war chest, erode its military machine and limit its malign behavior around the world.”
Sanctions which “work”
The British Foreign Minister also believes that the United Kingdom's sanctions “work”. According to him, this is evidenced by the fact that Russia is “increasingly dependent on states like North Korea and Iran for its military equipment.” Or even be “forced to send North Korean troops to support the illegal invasion” of Ukraine. According to the United States, some 10,000 members of the North Korean army are in the Russian region of Kursk, bordering Ukraine and partly occupied by kyiv's forces. They would thus have been “integrated into Russian formations”.
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In July, the United Kingdom had in any case launched a call for action against Russia's “ghost fleet”, during the summit of the European Political Community (EPC) which was held in England. 46 countries and the European Union have since signed it, according to a press release from the British Foreign Office. In addition, the latter underlined that the United States and the European Union have sanctioned respectively 39 and 19 ships from this Russian fleet. With its much higher number of 73, this demonstrates “UK leadership in the fight against the Phantom Fleet” of Russia, he maintains.
London reminds us more generally that a “ghost fleet” poses significant risks for world trade. “Many vessels engage in deceptive shipping practices and pose a danger to the environment – many tankers blatantly ignore basic safety standards, increasing the risk of catastrophic oil spills,” he argues. This is why he advocates cracking down on the companies that insure these ships. This was again done on Monday since, in addition to the sanctions against the 30 ships, two Russian insurers were sanctioned.
(With AFP)
