The Russians set up a ‘shadow fleet’: Turkey is on the way
As Western countries led by the US are putting new sanctions on Russian oil on the table over the invasion of Ukraine, moves are taking place from Moscow to lift the sanctions.
Britain’s Financial Times (FT) newspaper wrote that Russia established a ‘shadow fleet’ by directly or indirectly purchasing tankers to continue its oil exports while circumventing sanctions.
‘OVER 100 TANKS PURCHASED’
London-based shipping company Braemar said Russia normally relies on foreign tankers for crude oil shipments, but has bought more than 100 ships directly and indirectly this year.
The company’s research director, Anoop Singh, said tankers that Russia registers with no or new names are generally between 12 and 15 years old and are expected to be scrapped within a few years.
“These are buyers we are not familiar with and we are sure most of the ships are going to Russia,” Singh said.
Oslo-based energy consultancy Rystad said Russia acquired 103 tankers this year through the purchase and remanufacturing of vessels serving Iran and Venezuela.
‘THEY REDUCE THE EFFECT OF SANCTIONS BUT NOT ENOUGH’
Interpreting this development as “Russia is establishing a shadow fleet to overcome sanctions”, representatives of the international oil transport sector said that the ban on importing oil from Russia and the maximum price of 60 dollars, which will be implemented by the European Union (EU) on Monday, December 5, will be overcome in this way, he claimed he wanted.
Industry representatives suggested that with the help of the shadow fleet, Russia would reduce the impact of sanctions, but could not remove them entirely.
“Russia needs more than 240 tankers to maintain the current export flow,” said Viktor Kurilov, an analyst at Rystad.
It was stressed that Russia, which will have a harder time using its global fleet of tankers due to the latest G7 and EU sanctions, and will not be able to work with insurance companies like Lloyd’s of London unless they sell below price maximum, it will use the shadow fleet.
INDIA, CHINA AND TURKEY PRIORITY
The FT noted that the shadow fleet will be used to supply countries such as India, China and Turkey, which have become major buyers of Russian oil that Europe has taken over.
The increase in Turkey’s oil imports from Russia this year is striking. Finally, according to the September EMRA report, Russia’s share in Turkey’s total oil imports rose to 46.95 percent. This rate was 20.67 percent in September last year.
Although refiners and licensed importers in Turkey buy Russian oil at a discount, they make a big profit selling it on the domestic market at international prices.
Turkey, India and China disagree with Western sanctions on Russian oil, but the sanctions make it difficult to export through areas like insurance, payments and transportation. This increases transportation costs and risks. That is why Russia sells oil about 30 dollars below the international price.