The Russian-sanctioned oil tanker Primorya secretly transferred raw materials to a vessel near Singapore. The ship covered a distance of 12 thousand km.
Points of attention
- The Russian tanker Primorya transported oil secretly near Singapore, violating US sanctions.
- Russia's state-owned oil company Sovkomflot is renaming tankers after sanctions were imposed to avoid restrictions.
- Sovcomflot's tanker fleet remains one of the largest in the world. The company's strategy is to avoid sanctions by renaming vessels.
- Clandestine oil transfers can help avoid the risk of operations with sanctioned tankers.
- Russian tankers continue to defy sanctions by changing names and remaining significant players in the global oil transportation market.
The Russian tanker Primorie continues to violate US sanctions
In October 2023, the Department of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the Russian tanker Primorie. After that, he did not load oil for about six months.
Bloomberg edition writes about it.
However, at the end of April this year, the tanker arrived at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. He picked up a cargo of Urals oil and embarked on a journey of 7,500 miles (about 12,000 km) to arrive at a location about 70 miles east of Singapore.
Bloomberg notes that in 2024, the Russian Federation shipped about 3.4 million barrels of oil daily worth $37 billion at the export point.
In May, government oil revenues rose by nearly 50% year-on-year as crude oil prices rose and the country adjusted to the measures. However, the distorted logistics, in which the Primorya tanker takes part, indicates the presence of obstacles to trade.
It is said that shortly after the Russian tanker arrived east of Singapore, it disappeared from the automatic identification system through which commercial vessels transmit their location and destinations for security reasons.
At the same time, after the vessel's disappearance, satellite images recorded that the tanker transferred the cargo on June 3 to another ship, the Ocean Hermana.
The secret transfer would theoretically help the oil buyer distance themselves from dealing with the sanctioned vessel and any risk of further Treasury action.
The tanker "Primorie" belongs to the state oil tanker company of Russia PJSC "Sovkomflot" — at that time, its board was transporting about 1 million barrels of oil.
Sanctioned tankers were renamed in Russia
Russia's state oil company Sovcomflot renamed some tankers after Russian cities after the United States of America imposed sanctions on them
Sovcomflot came under American sanctions in February, when the United States announced a new package of restrictions on the occasion of the second anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Fourteen Russian oil tankers were then included in the US Treasury Department's list of named vessels as property in which Sovcomflot has a stake.
According to the publication, at least four Russian tankers have been renamed: NS Columb has a new name, Kemerovo, NS Bravo — Belgorod, NS Captain — Kaliningrad and NS Creation — Krasnoyarsk.
Bloomberg notes that the Russian Federation relies on its giant Sovcomflot tanker fleet in addition to its shadow fleet to transport oil. According to Clarkson Research Services Ltd., Russia's state-owned oil company remains the world's largest owner of Aframax-class tankers, each of which can carry about 700,000 barrels of oil.
Tankers often change names after sanctions to distance themselves from listings in restriction databases, although they can be identified by unique and unchanging numbers registered with the International Maritime Organisation.
