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28 February 2024

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Last Friday 23rd February, the United States of America (USA) has imposed sanctions on Russia’s leading tanker group SOVCOMFLOT (SCF) of which Washington seeks to reduce Russia’s revenues from oil sales it can use to support the invasion of Ukraine, the Treasury Department stated.

Russia is one of the world’s top oil exporters and the sanctions were the latest in an effort by Western countries to add costs on the shipping of its crude oil and oil products while keeping the petroleum flowing to global markets.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control also designated 14 crude oil tankers vessels as property in which SCF has an interest.

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued general licenses allowing the offloading of crude oil, or other cargoes, from the 14 vessels for 45 days, and allowing transactions with all other SCF tankers. A senior Treasury Department official stated that SCF as a whole, as a parent company, has been implicated in price cap violations in addition to deceptive activity.

The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.

Meanwhile the grey fleet is likely to become darker as more focused sanctions squeeze Russia’s export options. The grey tanker fleet – ships hauling Venezuelan, Iranian, North Korean and Russian cargoes – has grown from around 400 ships to more than 700 units in the two years since Russia’s war with Ukraine

SCF PECHORA berthed at Delimara Power Station, Marsaxlokk Harbour, Malta back to 3rd June, 2019

Earlier on Friday, Washington imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Russia, targeting more than 500 people and entities to mark the second anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and retaliate for the death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader.

The Treasury began enforcing the price cap in October, and before Friday had sanctioned 27 tankers for violating the price cap. Many of those tankers have been anchored off ports since being sanctioned, shipping data has shown.

SCF NEVA berthed at Oil Tanking Malta (now EVOS) back to 7th June, 2019.

Timeline image is of crude oil tanker SCF SURGUT entering Grand Harbour, Malta bound to Palumbo Malta Shipyards back to 13th October, 2014.

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