Violation of the Embargo on Russia’s Crude Oil Imports to the EU in February-March 2023
The Monitoring Group of BlackSeaNews
and the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies
Based on its own monitoring, the Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute for Strategic Studies and the BlackSeaNews, reports the following results of monitoring violations of the embargo on Russian crude oil sea exports to the EU countries in February-March 2023 (see Table 2).
* * *
In February-March 2023, the Monitoring Group recorded a gradual but significant reduction in the number of violations of the EU embargo on Russian crude oil sea imports from the Black Sea ports. While in January there were 12 such violations, in February their number dropped to 7, and in March — to 4 cases.
Unlike in the previous two months, In March 2023, there were no deliveries of Russian crude oil directly to EU ports and only 1 of the tankers violating the embargo belongs to a company registered in an EU country, namely, Greece. The oil volume delivered from the Black Sea to the Laconian Gulf (Greece) transshipment raid also remains somewhat lower than previously recorded.
Overall, the amounts transported in violation of the embargo have decreased from 1,274,281 tons in January 2023 to 869,776 tons in February and 476,449 tons in March 2023 (as of March 27, 2023).
If the Greek government takes the problem of the raid transshipment near its coast, it will be safe to declare full compliance with the Russian oil embargo exported from the Black Sea ports.
* * *
In January 2023, we recorded 12 cases of embargo violations involving 4 EU countries:
9 of them involved the delivery of Russian crude oil for transshipment to Greek bays and anchorages, while
3 concerned the arrival of tankers with Russian crude oil directly at the ports of Slovenia, the Netherlands and Spain.
In February 2023, we recorded 7 cases of embargo violations involving 3 EU countries:
4 of them involved the delivery of Russian crude oil for raid transshipment to the Laconian Gulf (UN/LOCODE - GR LAKONIKOS GULF) off the Greek coast, i.e., at the very minimum, transit across the territorial sea of an EU state and other operations with sanctioned Russian crude oil,
2 involving the arrival of tankers with Russian crude oil directly at the ports of Italy, namely Augusta in Sicily (IT AUG AUGUSTA) and Trieste (IT TRS TRIESTE) and
1 being the arrival of a tanker with Russian crude oil directly at the Netherlands port of Rotterdam (NL RTM ROTTERDAM).
In March 2023, there were 4 cases of embargo violations involving 1 EU country:
All 4 cases involved the delivery of Russian crude oil for raid transshipment to the Laconian Gulf (UN/LOCODE - GR LAKONIKOS GULF) off the coast of Greece.
The telling changes have been taking place not only in the tanker numbers and ports of destination, but also, in the list of shipowners who still risk signing contracts for the transportation of Russian crude oil to the EU (see Table 1).
Table 1.Tankers Transporting Russian Crude Oil to the EU in January-March 2023, by Country of Shipowners’ Registration
| Country of Shipowners’ Registration | January 2023 | February 2023 | March 2023 |
|
Greece [GR] |
6 | 5 | 1 |
| Turkey [TR] | 2 | ||
| Denmark [DK] | 1 | 1 | |
| Cyprus [CY] | 1 | ||
| Marshall Islands [MH] | 1 | 1 | |
| DUBAI United Arab Emirates [AE] - Russia [RU] | 1 | 1 | |
| Liberia [LR] | 1 | ||
| India [IN] | 1 | ||
| In total | 12 | 7 | 4 |
While in January 2023, 2/3 of the tankers that violated the embargo were owned by 8 companies registered in EU countries, in March 2023, we recorded only one such company — EUROTANKERS INC, Piraeus, Greece.
* * *
Table 2. Tankers Transporting Russian Crude Oil to the EU from Russian Black Sea Ports in February-March 2023
Data on shipowners and operators — from www.equasis.org
|
# |
Name |
IMO |
DWT |
Flag |
Port of departure |
Actual time of departure |
Port of destination |
Actual time of arrival |
Shipowner |
|
February 2023 |
|||||||||
|
Greece [GR] |
|||||||||
|
1 |
LENI P. |
9594133 |
158640 |
Marshall Is |
RU TAM |
2023-01-24 00:02 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-02-06 08:22 |
Registered owner SUMMERTON INVESTMENTS CORP-MAI Care of Marine Trust Ltd, Vergoti Square, Glyfada, 166 75 Athens, Greece. |
|
2 |
HS BURAQ |
9381732 |
112521 |
Liberia |
RU TUA |
2023-01-18 05:24 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-02-09 13:21 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager HS BURAQ LTD 80, Broad Street, Monrovia, Liberia. |
|
3 |
KRITI DIAMOND |
9249075 |
166739 |
Liberia |
RU KAVKAZ SOUTH ANCH |
2023-01-25 19:38 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-02-11 05:40 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager AVIN INTERNATIONAL LTD 12A, Irodou Attikou Street, Marousi, 151 24 Athens, Greece. |
|
4 |
MINERVA DOXA |
9304617 |
159438 |
Greece |
RU KAVKAZ SOUTH ANCH |
2023-01-28 08:48 |
LAKONIKOS GREECE |
2023-02-10 13:58 |
Registered owner DOXA ENE Care of Minerva Marine Inc, 141-143, Vouliagmenis Avenue & 1 Aiolou Street, Voula, 166 73 Athens, Greece. |
|
Netherlands [NL] |
|||||||||
|
5 |
SEAOATH |
9290361 |
105472 |
Malta |
RU NVS |
2023-01-27 01:14 |
NL RTM |
АTA: 2023-02-19 01:36 |
Registered owner SEACARGO SHIPPING LTD Care of Thenamaris (Ships Management) Inc, 16, Athinas Avenue & Vorreou Street, Vouliagmeni, 166 71 Athens, Greece. |
|
Italy [IT] |
|||||||||
|
6 |
BEKS EBRU |
9308132 |
49911 |
Marshall Is |
RU NVS |
2023-02-03 02:07 |
IT AUG |
2023-02-11 10:01 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager MAERSK TANKERS MR K/S Holmbladsgade 133, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark. |
|
7 |
PROMITHEAS |
9305611 |
117055 |
Greece |
RU NVS |
2023-02-16 22:49 |
IT TRS |
АTA: 2023-03-02 08:26 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager TSAKOS SHIPPING & TRADING SA Megaron 'Macedonia', 367, Andrea Syngrou Avenue, Palaio Faliro, 175 64 Athens, Greece. |
|
March 2023 |
|||||||||
|
Greece [GR] |
|||||||||
|
1 |
ORIENTAL PEARL |
9281011 |
115048 |
St.Kitts and Nevis |
RU TAM |
2023-02-24 16:59 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-03-10 06:33 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager GATIK SHIP MANAGEMENT M/S E-306, 3rd Floor, Eastern Business District, Neptune Magnet Mall, Lal Bahadur Shastri Road, Bhandup (W), Mumbai, 400078, India. |
|
2 |
TYCHE 1 |
9308077 |
150980 |
Panama |
RU KAVKAZ SOUTH ANCH |
2023-03-02 00:00 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-03-09 15:57 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager FRACTAL MARINE DMCC Unit 157, Level 5, DMCC Business Centre, Jewellery & Gemplex 2, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. |
|
3 |
EURO-STRENGTH |
9543524 |
104594 |
Liberia |
RU NVS |
2023-03-06 15:00 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-03-16 09:58 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager EUROTANKERS INC 5th Floor, 99, Akti Miaouli, 185 38 Piraeus, Greece. |
|
4 |
NAXOS |
9336426 |
105827 |
St Kitts and Nevis |
RU KAVKAZ SOUTH ANCH |
2023-03-08 16:00 |
GR LAKONIKOS GULF |
2023-03-17 02:09 |
Ship manager/ Commercial manager HIPPOCAMPUS SHIPPING & MARINE Trust Company Complex, Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake, Majuro MH 96960, Marshall Islands. |
* * *
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