half of the tankers have stopped shipping
Part of the fleet of tankers carrying Russian oil above the established price ceiling has stopped shipping since early October, when the United States imposed sanctions against them. According to Bloomberg, this may indicate the success of restrictive measures.
The publication notes that the picture is still incomplete, since the US Treasury is introducing sanctions against tankers in batches. Of the 50 tankers that came under restrictions since October 10, only 18 were able to load. Moreover, nine of them are shuttle tankers (that is, they load oil from platforms or vessels for the extraction and storage of raw materials). Another tanker is carrying raw materials loaded before the imposition of sanctions.
Seven tankers were idle before the sanctions were introduced, three others could soon be loaded.
24 sanctioned tankers belong to the Sovcomflot-controlled company SUN Ship Management D Ltd., another 18 belong to the UAE company Hennesea Holdings Ltd.
Last Thursday, the Sovcomflot tanker NS Leader was added to the list – on the same day it turned around off the coast of Portugal and headed to the Russian port on the Baltic. Three sanctioned tankers loaded with Sokol oil are stuck on their way to India.
At the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023. The G7 countries, the EU and Australia introduced a price ceiling on Russian raw materials of $60/barrel and restrictions on petroleum products in order to deprive Moscow of petrodollars. However, Russia began to use a shadow fleet for transportation, and Western companies continued to transport raw materials, so the measures did not work.
