Ships connected to sanctioned banks continue sailing, even as authorities crack down on Russia's commercial fleet.
Following the arrest of the 8,831-gt Baltic Leader (built 2000) in France over the weekend for its connections to blacklisted PSB, four other PSB-linked ships are still on the high seas of a total of seven it either manages or owns.
All four have Dagestan-based Transmorflot as either technical manager or registered owner, according to shipping databases.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The Russia-flagged ro-ro was arrested after it was diverted to France as it was “strongly suspected of being linked to Russian interests targeted by the sanctions”, Captain Veronique Magnin of the French Maritime Prefecture told Reuters.
PSB reportedly told Reuters the ship and company no longer have any connection. PSB Leasing is listed as the Baltic Leader's commercial manager, databases show.
Other ships sanctioned by the US by name include 115,418-dwt Linda (built 2003) and the 115,527-dwt Pegas (built 2003), both aframax tankers. PSB Leasing is listed as the registered owner for both.
Automatic identification system data shows the Linda in the Indian Ocean, between Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Data from VesselsValue shows it loaded at some point while transiting the Middle East Gulf, though it does not appear to have made a port call.
The Pegas is at anchor in the Sea of Marmara, where it arrived in September only making small movements since.
Both ships have been accused of participating in the illicit trade of Iranian oil by United Against Nuclear Iran, loading cargoes either at a terminal or in a ship-to-ship transfer.
Of the remaining four that were not sanctioned directly, the 7,184-dwt ro-ro Stella Marina (built 2000) is moored near St Petersburg after arriving in Russian territorial waters on 23 February and the 12,731-dwt general cargoship Viktoria Shain (built 2006) has been at a Turkish shipyard since 2 February.
The 12,717-dwt general cargoship Maliy BS (built 2006) is ballasting in the Arabian Sea, appearing to head toward the Red Sea after calling on two ports in India.
On Tuesday, the ship changed its automatic identification system to broadcast “army guard on board”. The ship had previously said it was headed to Antwerp.
It is unclear whether ship took on security forces as it enters dangerous waters in the eastern Indian Ocean or if they are there for another reason.
The 12,717-dwt Neptun (built 2006), also general cargoship, is in the Adriatic Sea between Italy and Albania.
It was briefly anchored offshore Durres, Albania last week after spending time in the Middle East and appearing to pick up cargo in the United Arab Emirates.
Russian merchant ships have been running into several issues since the country invaded Ukraine last week.
On Monday, UK ports were directed to refuse Russian ships as the local government in Scotland's Orkney Islands sought to turn away Sovcomflot's 106,000-dwt aframax tanker NS Challenger (built 2005) as it was set to call on an oil terminal there.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that European Union countries were considering similar actions, while Canada already shut its ports to Russian ships.
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