“Bloomberg”: Russian oil tankers subject to US sanctions stuck at sea for months

Bloomberg revealed that dozens of oil tankers are stuck doing nothing months after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on them – an indication of the scope of the United States to disrupt Moscow’s oil supply chain if it so chooses.

Since October, 40 ships involved in Russia’s oil trade have been added to the Treasury Department’s list of “designated entities,” most for violating a price cap aimed at restricting the Kremlin’s access to petrodollars.

Only one ship, SCF Primorye, has transported cargo since its inclusion on the list. It is headed to Asia. If it can unload the barrels it carries without any problems, it could encourage Russia to use more ships again.

The sanctions and price caps imposed on Russia have been criticized for being too easy for Moscow to circumvent, given the volume of crude oil flows into the country. However, the fleet’s inactivity shows that when actions are taken against individual ships, they can be effective.

21 of the 40 ships belong to the state-controlled Russian shipping company, Sovcomflot PJSC. Most of the other 19 ships are controlled by Hennessia Holdings.