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Barbados and Panama to remove flags from 114 Russian shadow fleet tankers

January 23, 2025

By Ukraine

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A significant portion of Russia’s oil tanker “shadow fleet” must find new flags to sail under as Western sanctions intensify pressure on Moscow’s shipping network, as Barbados and Panama maritime registries are set to de-list 114 Russian vessels, Bloomberg reports.

Since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ships tied to Moscow often change flags and service providers, showing sanctions’ impact on Russia’s oil logistics that keeps Russia’s war machine running. Russia’s shadow fleet, primarily used for transporting oil and gas, includes hundreds of vessels operating under foreign flags like Panama and Barbados. Ownership of these ships is obscured through offshore registrations and tax haven entities, enabling them to bypass sanctions. The US, EU, and UK sanctions aim to block Russia from earning revenue through energy sales, a key funding source for its war in Ukraine.

According to the Barbados ship registry, 46 vessels will be required to remove the country’s flag by the end of January 2025 due to UK sanctions, with 14 of these vessels also under US sanctions. Additionally, Bloomberg says Panama’s ship registry announced earlier in January it had begun de-listing 68 vessels sanctioned by the US.

The development follows the implementation of new sweeping sanctions on Russia’s exports earlier in January 2025. Affected vessels are expected to find new registrations. Some vessels previously registered in Barbados have already found new flags with Tanzania and São Tomé and Príncipe, according to the Equasis marine database.

Panama’s decision to cancel 68 vessels follows its late 2024 rule alignment with US, European Union, UK, and United Nations sanctions.

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