Britain Sanctions 30 More Ships from Russia's 'Ghost Fleet'

The British government has announced sanctions on 30 additional vessels that are part of Russia's 'ghost fleet'. With this decision, the total number of Russian vessels sanctioned by Britain rises to 73. David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, described this decision on Monday, December 5, as the 'largest sanctions package' against cargo and oil tanker ships that Russia uses to evade Western sanctions on its oil exports and to fund the war in Ukraine. In addition, the British government sanctioned two Russian insurance companies for providing services to what is described as Russia's 'ghost fleet'. According to Western officials, these vessels, also known as the 'shadow fleet', operate without legal insurance, are owned by dubious individuals and companies, and use flags from other countries to transport Russian oil and gasoline, helping Moscow evade energy export restrictions and the price cap set on oil exports. The British Foreign Office stated that half of the vessels targeted by the new sanctions carried oil and petroleum products worth over $4.3 billion for Russia last year. This new sanctions package was announced by David Lammy on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Italy. The U.S. government has so far sanctioned 39 vessels, and the European Union has sanctioned 19 vessels for allegedly helping Russia evade Western sanctions. The British government claims that Western sanctions against Russia due to its military aggression in Ukraine are 'effective' and that Moscow is increasingly forced to rely on countries like North Korea and Iran for the military hardware it needs. The British Foreign Office also mentioned that two of the vessels sanctioned last month, the 'Artemis', flagged in Gabon, and the 'Sea Fidelity', flagged in Honduras, have been 'idle in the Baltic Sea since then.' Iran also employs a similar method for its oil exports, and Bloomberg recently reported that the country uses these tankers to export one million barrels of oil daily. Previously, the 'United Against Nuclear Iran' organization told Radio Free Europe that it has identified 400 ships from the active fleet involved in the clandestine transport of Iranian oil.