The UK announced its largest wave of sanctions yet against Russia’s shadow fleet on Thursday. The new measures designate 18 additional oil tankers and four LNG carriers in an effort to disrupt key revenue sources for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This latest round of sanctions builds on the UK’s initial actions from June, when the former government specifically targeted vessels linked to the shadow fleet. These vessels are being used by Russia to bypass sanctions imposed by the UK and the G7. That marked the first time sanctions were directly aimed at this “dark fleet.”
Under the new sanctions, 18 more oil tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet will be banned from UK ports and denied access to British maritime services. This brings the total number of sanctioned oil tankers to 43. Additionally, the UK has blacklisted four more LNG tankers and sanctioned Russian gas company Rusgazdobycha JSC to increase pressure on the country’s natural gas sector.
“The UK is leading the charge against Putin’s desperate and dangerous attempts to cling on to his energy revenues. His shadow fleet places coastlines across Europe and the world in jeopardy,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
Despite these efforts, Russia continues to find ways to sidestep Western sanctions. It has managed to defy recent restrictions, such as the blacklisting of dozens of oil tankers, by returning about one-third of them to service to transport its oil.
As of October 10, a total of 72 tankers had been blacklisted by the US, EU, and UK for carrying Russian oil in violation of sanctions or a price cap. However, at least 21 of those vessels have since resumed transporting Russian oil, according to tanker-tracking data from Bloomberg.
The UK sanctions appear to have the least impact, as data shows that two-thirds of the vessels blacklisted by Britain are still shipping Russian oil.
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