Among the tankers supplying Russian oil to India, ships from the American sanctions list have appeared.
Points of attention
- Sanctioned tankers, despite being on US and UK sanctions lists, are successfully delivering Russian oil to India by evading restrictions through transshipment and rerouting.
- The complex maneuvers involved in the transportation of Russian oil to India highlight the challenges posed by international sanctions on the oil trade.
- The involvement of sanctioned tankers in the Russian oil trade underscores the difficulties in enforcing restrictions and the resilience of these tankers in continuing their operations.
Despite US sanctions, tankers carry Russian oil
It is noted that last week, about 1 million barrels of Sokol oil from the Russian Far East were delivered to an oil refinery in India.
Half of this volume was loaded after two ship-to-ship transfers, one of which involved a ship that was subject to US sanctions, according to data from Kpler and Vortexa Ltd.
According to Kpler, other vessels under US sanctions are transporting cargoes of Russian oil that are due to be delivered next month.
Thus, at the end of March, the tanker Viktor Titov, against which the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions in January, loaded about 500 thousand barrels of Sokol oil from Russia, later transshipped it onto the vessel Night Glory, which sailed to Malaysian waters, where it again transshipped oil onto the vessel Cordelia Moon, which unloaded at the end of May at the oil refinery in Jamnagar in western India.
It is stated that both Night Glory and Cordelia Moon are under UK sanctions, but not under US sanctions.
Other tankers hit by US sanctions have also been involved in the Russian oil trade, including the Captain Kostichev and Victor Konetsky, according to Kpler data. The Captain Kostichev loaded 699,000 barrels of Sokol oil in Russia in late April and then loaded it onto the Monte 1, which is expected to unload in Jamnagar in early June.
In mid-May, Victor Konetsky transshipped onto the Night Glory in Nakhodka Bay. The ships may change their destinations.
In December 2024, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the so-called Russian "shadow fleet" numbered over a thousand tankers. It was created to circumvent oil sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation.
On January 10, 2025, the United States imposed sanctions against more than 30 Russian oil service companies, including Gazprom Nafta, Surgutnaftogaz, Ingosstrakh, Alfastrakhavaniya, and Radcomflot.
The sanctions lists also included 184 tankers, including 63 Sovcomflot vessels and "shadow fleet" ships that transported Russian oil. Several of the vessels that were sanctioned transported not only Russian oil but also sanctioned Iranian oil.
On February 24, in the 16th package of sanctions, the EU added several dozen more Russian vessels to the list of sanctioned vessels. Thus, the total number of Russian tankers subject to restrictions reached 153.
On May 9, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on 101 Russian oil tankers, as well as 9 individuals and entities behind Russia's "shadow fleet."
On May 20, the EU added another 189 vessels originating from third countries and involved in the Russian "shadow fleet" to the 17th package of sanctions.
