Russia uses screens companies to buy used tankers, and brows them under pavilions of complacency. By bypassing international sanctions, it also causes the threat of polluting accidents to hover.
The expression seems straight out of a fantastic film. However, it designates a very dark reality. The Russian “ghost fleet”, which has developed since the start of the war in Ukraine, has an environmental threat hovering. The recent black tide in the Kerch Strait, the largest ecological disaster in the 21st century in Russia, is now attributed to these oil ships allowing Moscow to export its oil by bypassing international sanctions, according to the work of an expert published on Saturday January 18.
The Voltgoneft-212 and the Voltgoneft-239 failed in mid-December, while transporting more than 8,000 tonnes of fuel oil to them. The two buildings certainly beat Russian pavilion, but their activities were suspect, explains to Franceinfo Eugene Simonov, member of the working group on the environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine and author of the expert report. “The area where they were heading is intended for transshipment, for the transfer of ship’s oil products.”
What oil tanker did they meet? The expert’s suspicions are focused on the Firna huge tanker (80,000 tonnes), 22 years old and beating Panamanian pavilion. “This oil tanker regularly changes jurisdiction, pavilion, owner and name”he underlines in his investigation. THE Firn Can accommodate the loading of around thirty ships comparable to those which caused the recent oil spill, according to the specialist. The building is still at anchor in the port of Kafkaz, located in the Kerch Strait, according to the observations of the specialized site Veslfinder.
Eugene Simonov had participated at the end of 2024 in a hydrocarbon transhipment exercise in this same port. “This is where most of the ship’s ship’s ship transfers take place”underlines the expert. Before the disaster, added the latter, oil tankers were waiting online, in the area, to transfer their cargo. Among them, the Prikamye (formerly Voltgoneft-55) was able to unload his fuel oil and win a safe place before a storm. The two stranded vessels were no longer allowed to navigate since November 30, the same admission of the Russian Ministry of Transport, and they were no longer insured.
“It came across these two, but it could have been any of these ships.”
Eugene Simonov, international environmental expertin franceinfo
As for Firnit had already been identified on the lists of Greenpeace and the Ukrainian project War Sanctions, which links it to Sovcomflot, the largest Russian sea company, via screens companies, Sun Sun Ship Management and SCF Management LTD. Oil tankers like the Firn are in the viewfinder of the international authorities because they are suspected of having the mission of discreetly ensuring the exports of Russian hydrocarbons above the thresholds imposed by sanctions. China, India and Turkey are today at the top of the recipients.
Russia, as well as Iran and Venezuela, has been accused for several years of having recourse to a “shadow fleet”, but the phenomenon has amplified since the war in Ukraine. In December 2022, the G7 and the European Union decided to prohibit their companies from selling insurance or technical assistance to ships that would sell Russian hydrocarbons beyond a certain threshold (60 dollars for the barrel of crude crude , or around 57.5 euros). This therefore concerned almost all world cargoes. This was a means for Western countries to maintain fuel supply while reducing margins for the Russian economy, and therefore Moscow’s ability to finance his army.
In response, Russia has sought to get around these sanctions. One of the means is to create screens companies, which buy used ships and have them sail under a pavilion of complacency. L’event has changed its name twice in recent years, and three times a pavilion. A few days ago, he found himself in difficulty in the Baltic Sea, causing the fear of another black tide. This ship, which transported 99,000 tonnes of oil under Panamanian pavilion, had to be escorted by the German navy, at the cost of difficult maneuvers in raging waters.
The other way to get around these sanctions is to operate ship’s ship transfers in international waters. These so -called operations ship-to-ship are common in the legal fleets, but the practice allows you to blur the tracks. A European survey report also quoted the extinction of follow -up transponders and the transmission of false data, in particular registration for the international maritime organization.
In December, 36% of the Russian hydrocarbons transported by sea were in oil tankers respecting the ceilings of the sanctions, according to figures from the center for energy research and air cleanliness (CREA). The rest was transported by ghost oil trees and was not subject to the ceiling on oil prices. Six member countries of the European Union (EU) – Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – have asked the European Commission to further lower this threshold, in order to complicate the task of Russian oil sector. At the risk, however, to further boost the phenomenon.
-By definition, it is difficult to know the exact number of these ships operating in troubled waters. But several researchers evaluated their number around the thousand and the Windward maritime analysis firm recently counted 1,300. These figures in any case exploded at the end of 2022, following the decision to introduce Thresholds on Russian petroleum products.
The EU has placed 79 ships in its list* of ships accused of offenses, compared to around 200 for the United States. The Ukrainian project “War Sanctions”, on the other hand, gives the names of 580 ships and 32 captains. At the end of October, the NGO Greenpeace* had published a list of 192 aging ships belonging to this “ghost fleet”. Most of these tankers had also circulated in the Baltic Sea at least once in the last two years.
Russia has invested ten billion dollars (9.6 billion euros) to develop this fleet and continue to sell petroleum products at market prices, according to a study by the kyiv School of Economics. Either by transferring ships by creating new companies, or by buying used buildings, 200 of which are over 20 years old. The European survey report also pointed to an increasing number of aging and poorly maintained ships sailing “With minimal respect for regulations”which represents “Significant risks for the environment, maritime security and security”. According to a CREA* report, 72% are over 15 years old. The sinking of Voltgoneft-212 and the Voltgoneft-239 Who braved the storm despite the risks, illustrates all the dangers linked to this fuel war.
Thailand, Vietnam, Italy, Mexico … In the fall, the politico site and the Material Source journalists collective had allocated nine cases of suspicious spills to these “ghost fleet” ships, examining satellite images. These tankers were then qualified as “time bomb” by Isaac Levi, CREA expert. This reflection group, which works on the consequences of sanctions on the trade in Russian hydrocarbons, pointed out, in another of its reports*, that these ships underwent “fewer inspections and were more likely to illegally pour out waste”.
In addition, no less than 85% of these ships have no known insurer within the dedicated international group, notes a document from the maritime analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. However, these approved companies cover the damage of black tides, among others. CREA therefore notes that in the event of an accident, “Coastal countries could bear [seuls] the financial weight of cleaning – More than a billion euros, potentially, for taxpayers of the states concerned.
“What I fear the most is a collision”had testified Mikael Pedersen, a seasoned sailor, with Bloomberg. Member of the Danpilot agency, he is sometimes called in reinforcement to draw certain ships in difficulty from the narrow straits of the Baltic. “These are old and obsolete ships. We have terrible traffic there. If there was a flight, it would be a disaster.” Last March, according to this source, an oil tanker from the “ghost fleet” collided with another ship as he went to Russia to load oil.
In 2022, a busy oil tanker had derived for six hours off the Danish Island of Langeland. Finland had asked the EU to provide a rescue ship adapted to these conditions and capable of supporting national fleets in the event of dark tide in the northern parts of the Baltic Sea.“Such negligence can cause major accidents practically anywhereconcludes Eugene Simonov, Even in a place like the Kerch Strait, which had already experienced a previous black tide in 2007. “
* The links followed by an asterisk refer to PDF documents.
