Vladimir Putin is increasingly taking a slow boat to China to get his sanctioned oil to market, according to a leading shipping journal.And it’s because of the tensions in the Red Sea he’s helping to forment in the Red Sea via his regime’s support for Iran which is in turn backing the Houthis.On Sunday, the Iran-back Yemeni rebels struck a Greek flagged oil tanker, Sounion, in the Red Sea and set it ablaze, sparking fears of an environmental disaster. The attack comes as the group has stepped up its assaults on ships, citing solidarity with Palestinians during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.That’s forcing shipping companies to explore alternate routes to get their crude to lucrative Far East markets..And thanks to its geography, with over 24,000 km of Arctic coastline, Russia happens to be one of them.According to gCaptain, crude oil shipments through the high Arctic are on pace to hit new records thanks to Russian tankers leaving Baltic ports bound for China. Russia reportedly began deliveries via the Arctic ‘shortcut’ in the summer of 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine.In the summer of 2023 it dispatched three massive Suezmax tankers and 10 smaller Aframax on the journey around the polar ice cap. More than a dozen large carriers were granted permits this summer.The journey is not without hazards, however, depending on the level of and extent of sea ice. The annual minimum extent traditionally occurs around the end of September signifying the peak of the annual Arctic shipping activity. In the summer months the ice pack retreats enough to allow ‘low-ice’ or even conventional tankers passage without ice breaker escort — which is why the voyages have to be permitted by Russian authorities..Russia has increasingly been forced to find alternate shipping routes after its fleet of ‘ghost tankers’ is hunted and sanctioned.The passage of such large amounts of illicit Russian crude has raised the ire of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office after three Russian tankers switched to sail under the flag of Barbados. Three others owned by the Russian state tanker company Sovcomflot, switched to Gabon, and also changed names to less Russian sounding ones.As well as specific sanctions on ships, under a Group of Seven initiative, companies aren’t allowed to provide key services for Russian shipments unless the cargoes being transported cost at — or below — certain thresholds. In the case of crude oil, that limit is $60 a barrel.To get a Barbadian flag is the gold standard of the shipping industry. The country is on the so-called ‘White List’ published by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, that ranks nations based on higher standards of ship safety. Also on Sunday, the US State Department sanctioned seven LNG carriers believed to have loaded at Russia’s newest terminal in the Arctic as per satellite images.The vessels included Pioneer and Asya Energy, which loaded the first two shipments from the Arctic LNG 2 project previously sanctioned by the US, according to a list published Friday by the US Treasury Department.“This is a massive, massive first step to make sure this is taken care of,” said Benjamin L. Schmitt, senior fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. “We haven’t seen sanctions enacted this quickly before.”
Vladimir Putin is increasingly taking a slow boat to China to get his sanctioned oil to market, according to a leading shipping journal.And it’s because of the tensions in the Red Sea he’s helping to forment in the Red Sea via his regime’s support for Iran which is in turn backing the Houthis.On Sunday, the Iran-back Yemeni rebels struck a Greek flagged oil tanker, Sounion, in the Red Sea and set it ablaze, sparking fears of an environmental disaster. The attack comes as the group has stepped up its assaults on ships, citing solidarity with Palestinians during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.That’s forcing shipping companies to explore alternate routes to get their crude to lucrative Far East markets..And thanks to its geography, with over 24,000 km of Arctic coastline, Russia happens to be one of them.According to gCaptain, crude oil shipments through the high Arctic are on pace to hit new records thanks to Russian tankers leaving Baltic ports bound for China. Russia reportedly began deliveries via the Arctic ‘shortcut’ in the summer of 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine.In the summer of 2023 it dispatched three massive Suezmax tankers and 10 smaller Aframax on the journey around the polar ice cap. More than a dozen large carriers were granted permits this summer.The journey is not without hazards, however, depending on the level of and extent of sea ice. The annual minimum extent traditionally occurs around the end of September signifying the peak of the annual Arctic shipping activity. In the summer months the ice pack retreats enough to allow ‘low-ice’ or even conventional tankers passage without ice breaker escort — which is why the voyages have to be permitted by Russian authorities..Russia has increasingly been forced to find alternate shipping routes after its fleet of ‘ghost tankers’ is hunted and sanctioned.The passage of such large amounts of illicit Russian crude has raised the ire of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office after three Russian tankers switched to sail under the flag of Barbados. Three others owned by the Russian state tanker company Sovcomflot, switched to Gabon, and also changed names to less Russian sounding ones.As well as specific sanctions on ships, under a Group of Seven initiative, companies aren’t allowed to provide key services for Russian shipments unless the cargoes being transported cost at — or below — certain thresholds. In the case of crude oil, that limit is $60 a barrel.To get a Barbadian flag is the gold standard of the shipping industry. The country is on the so-called ‘White List’ published by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, that ranks nations based on higher standards of ship safety. Also on Sunday, the US State Department sanctioned seven LNG carriers believed to have loaded at Russia’s newest terminal in the Arctic as per satellite images.The vessels included Pioneer and Asya Energy, which loaded the first two shipments from the Arctic LNG 2 project previously sanctioned by the US, according to a list published Friday by the US Treasury Department.“This is a massive, massive first step to make sure this is taken care of,” said Benjamin L. Schmitt, senior fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. “We haven’t seen sanctions enacted this quickly before.”
