Russian maritime giant Sovcomflot has taken the step of renaming several of its oil tankers following their inclusion in sanctions imposed by the United States.
According to reports from Bloomberg, at least four tankers have undergone name changes, along with a re-registration of flags from the Russian Federation to Gabon. The affected vessels now bear the names Kemerovo (formerly NS Columbus), Belgorod (formerly NS Bravo), Kaliningrad (formerly NS Captain), and Krasnoyarsk (formerly NS Creation).
It’s a tactic commonly seen in the maritime industry following the imposition of sanctions, aimed at distancing vessels from sanction lists in databases, although their identification remains possible through unique and unchangeable registration numbers recorded by the International Maritime Organisation.
Russia heavily relies on its vast tanker fleet, managed by Sovcomflot, for the transportation of its oil resources.
According to data from Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a leading maritime broker, Sovcomflot remains the world’s largest owner of Aframax-class tankers, each capable of transporting approximately 700,000 barrels of oil.
The United States, along with other G7 nations within the Coalition for Price Restraint, continues to explore additional measures to diminish Russia’s ability to profit from oil sales, which the Kremlin utilises in its conflict strategy against Ukraine.
Since early October, the US has escalated sanctions against a broad fleet of tankers transporting Russian oil, resulting in dozens of vessels subject to sanctions being effectively idled.
Russian oil companies are experiencing payment delays for oil and fuel by several months, as banks in China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) exercise greater caution due to secondary US sanctions.
Main Image: Door Zandcee – Eigen werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36114601
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