UK sanctions 30 shadow tankers in largest clampdown on Russian oil trade

The UK has blacklisted another 30 oil tankers in Russia's "shadow" fleet in its largest sanctions package of this kind to date, the government said Nov. 25, as a G7 foreign ministerial meeting kicks off in Italy.

To circumvent the G7's price cap on seaborne Russian oil exports, Russia has amassed a large tanker fleet of 586 ships totaling 57.1 million dwt, according to a recent analysis based on S&P Global Commodities at Sea and Maritime Intelligence Risk Suite data, most of which are old ships lacking sufficient insurance.

In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said the latest enforcement -- aimed at undermining Russia's war chest against Ukraine and reduce environmental risks -- would bring the total number of UK-sanctioned oil tankers to 73, the largest of any nation and compared with 39 blacklisted by the US and 19 by the EU.

"Russia's oil revenues are fueling the fires of war and destruction in Ukraine," UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement as he attended the G7 meeting.

"I will work with our G7 partners and beyond to exert relentless pressure on the Kremlin, disrupt the flow of money into its war chest, erode its military machine, and constrain its malign behavior worldwide."

CAS data showed the 30 tankers sanctioned in the latest UK enforcement have transported 81.4 million barrels of Russian crude and petroleum products to overseas buyers in the past year, of which 38% were destined for China, 35% for India and 10% for Turkey.

Half of the ships targeted transported Russian oil worth more than $4.3 billion in the 12-month period alone, according to the statement.

Sanctions pressure

The UK government said it had requested more than 43 tankers with "dubious" insurance to supply coverage details when they passed through UK waters and sanctioned one of them, the Aframax tanker Ksena, when its request was ignored on Nov. 12.

Having sanctioned Ingosstrakh in June, the UK has also blacklisted Russian insurers VSK and AlfaStrakhovanie.

The UK enforcement comes amid persistent doubts over the effectiveness of Western sanctions on Russian oil in terms of the price cap regime, with Russia's exports remaining high even when the cap was breached and industry participants suggesting the country had no issue finding sufficient shipping capacity.

CAS and MIRS data showed roughly 75% of Russia's 3.7 million b/d seaborne crude exports in October were loaded by tankers that could operate outside of the price cap, a still high level but down from the record 84% in September amid crude price weakness.

But the UK said its sanctions had "a concrete impact," suggesting two ships recently blacklisted were "idling uselessly" in the Black Sea due to the enforcement.