EU imposes new sanctions on Russia targeting 'ghost fleet' of tankers

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The European Union on Wednesday took new sanctions against Russia, targeting the “ghost fleet” of tankers that Moscow has deployed to circumvent Western restrictions on the oil trade and maintain a crucial source of revenue to finance the war against Ukraine.

This fleet consists of old, uninsured vessels, of which thePoor condition fuels fears of imminent ecological catastrophe near or within European waters.

A handful ofChinese companies suspected of allowing Russia to produce drones are also blacklisted under the deal, a diplomat told Euronews.

The sanctions were sealed by the ambassadors of the 27 member states at a meeting on Wednesday and represent the 15th package since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

“The EU and its G7 partners are determined to maintain pressure on the Kremlin,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

Precise details of the restrictions were not immediately available, but the package of measures should be modest compared to previous decisions. The discussions began last month and took place without much controversy between the countries.

Lithuania, which complained about a waiver allowing European companies to leave the Russian market, was the last to abstain, according to two diplomats.

These are the first sanctions adopted during the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EUwhich many diplomats feared would slow action on the war front due to Budapest's insistence on maintaining close ties with Moscow.

The 15th package mainly concerns the “ghost fleet” used by Russia to circumvent the price cap put in place by Western allies at the end of 2022 to reduce sales of Russian oil by sea around the world.

The ceiling was set at 60 dollars per barrel of crude oil and prohibits Western companies from providing services to Russian oil companies, such as insurance, financing and flagging, that sell crude oil above the agreed price.

To get by, Moscow has begun using aging, poorly maintained tankers, some more than 20 years old, that use obscure ownership and insurance structures that are effectively beyond the control of the G7 allies. These ships operate under “flags of convenience” of countries reluctant to respect Western sanctionssuch as Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands.

The “ghost fleet” has been accused of deceptive practicesincluding transmitting falsified data, turning off its carriers to become invisible to satellite systems, and making multiple ship-to-ship transfers to conceal the origin of the oil barrels.

The condition of these ships is so bad that Brussels fears they could spill oil and cause an ecological disaster near European Union territory. The absence of appropriate insurance could make it more difficult to limit damage at sea.

Despite the obvious risks, Moscow continues to rely on these tankers to market its crude oil, a key revenue source to finance the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and support the high-intensity war economy.

Between February 2022 and June 2024, Russia earned €475 billion in revenue from oil exports, or 68% of total fossil fuel export revenue, according to the Center for Energy and Air Research pure (CREA).

China and India are currently the main buyers of Russian oil, which is often refined in these countries and sold on the European market under another label.

The “ghost fleet” is estimated at around 600 shipsalthough no official figures exist due to information secrecy imposed by the Kremlin.

The sanctions adopted Wednesday by EU countries target around fifty ships belonging to the “ghost fleet”, according to diplomats. The previous package of measures blacklisted 27 ships, denying them access to EU ports and banning them from providing European services.