UK’s biggest shipping sanctions package targets tankers and Russian insurance companies

Britain has included a tanker that refused to supply its insurance details when it passed through UK waters in its biggest-ever shipping sanctions package against Russia.

The British foreign office announced measures on Monday against 30 ships, bringing the total announced by the UK alone to 73 vessels. Dozens more have been targeted by the EU and US.

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Two Russian insurance companies, Alfastrakhovanie and VSK, have also been sanctioned by the UK for their roles in “enabling the shadow fleet”.

Details of the roles played by the companies emerged during a new tactic to challenge shadow fleet vessels with suspected dubious insurance to provide details of coverage as they pass through the English Channel.

At least 43 ships with “dubious insurance” have so far been challenged to supply their insurance details, British officials said.

One ship, the Panama-flagged 106,000-dwt Ksena (built 2003), ignored UK challenges on 12 November and was among the ships blacklisted on Monday.

Ship-tracking data showed the Ksena passed through the English Channel with 711,000 barrels of Ural crude that were delivered to the Star refinery in Aliaga, Turkey, on Saturday, according to Kpler data.

The ship is listed under the ownership of Alvido Chartering, according to Equasis. Its address is given as that of the commercial and technical manager OST Shipmanagement, based in Moldova.

“For the first time, someone is explicitly connecting these two things: designation and the unwillingness to comply with insurance verification requirements,” said Benjamin Hilgenstock, senior economist at the Kyiv School of Economics. “This is very encouraging.”

Relentless pressure

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “I will work with our G7 partners and beyond to exert relentless pressure on the Kremlin, disrupt the flow of money into its war chest, erode its military machine, and constrain its malign behaviour worldwide.”

The UK said that sanctions were working and cited the 116,905-dwt Artemis (built 2007) and the 115,341-dwt Sea Fidelity (built 2005) that were blacklisted in the last UK round of sanctions in October.

They are both stopped off the Russian port of Ust-Luga and have not lifted a cargo since being designated by the UK, ship-tracking shows.

Half the vessels named on Monday have previously been hit with sanctions by the US or EU. They include Sovcomflot tankers previously blacklisted by the US under different names.

They include the 56,000-dwt suezmax Belgorod (ex-NS Bravo, built 2010) and the 105,800-dwt Krasnoyarsk (ex-NS Creation, built 2007).

The two Russian insurers blacklisted on Monday are on a list of approved insurance companies by India’s shipping regulator. Also on that list is Ingosstrakh, which was previously sanctioned by the UK.

British officials believe that the measure against Ingosstrakh was significant in slowing up the oil trade between Russia and India.

TradeWinds has reported how some sanctioned tankers had switched deliveries from India to China after idling for weeks.

India and China are the two main buyers of Russian oil following the European Union’s boycott of Russian oil from December 2022.

The moves against the sector were announced as Lammy met with G7 foreign ministers in Italy and urged further action against Russia.

He met his counterpart from India during the two-day summit, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said.

The targeting of insurance is one strand of UK policy against shipping services that is expected to extend to closer scrutiny of flag states.

Panama and Cameroon are among the flag states that have have committed to de-flagging vessels hit by UK sanctions.

Sanctioned ships are barred from UK ports and can be detained. The UK has sought to extend the power of the measure by using the London-based marine insurance and finance markets to limit the transactions connected to the tanker.