The US, EU and UK are pressuring Liberia, the Marshall Islands and Panama to enhance control measures on vessels operating under their flags and make sure they don't carry Russian oil sold above the price cap, the Western media reported on Saturday.
This move is another step in the West's campaign to enforce the $60 price limit on Russian oil exports by sea, which was imposed in response to Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.
Although the price cap was set in late 2022, it has just lately been put into effect. The policy forbids Western companies from offering maritime services that support the sale of Russian oil sold above the cap, including financing, insurance, and transportation.
Russia has allegedly been using aging tankers, known as the "ghost fleet" to carry oil and circumvent the cap, Western media claimed.
According to the report, citing UK-based online maritime data service Lloyd's List Intelligence, several of such tankers have been granted permission to carry the flags of Liberia, the Marshall Islands, and Panama. The practice, referred to as "flag hopping," permits certain shell companies established to deal in Russian oil to travel aboard vessels flying such flags in order to evade sanctions.
Lloyd's List Intelligence also stated that businesses incorporated in the Marshall Islands have registered ownership of over 40% of the approximately 535 dark-fleet tankers.
Despite attempts by Western countries to worsen the situation for the Russian economy, Russia is becoming increasingly adept at circumventing a Western-imposed price ceiling on its oil shipments, a German newspaper reported in October.
Moreover, according to an energy expert and professor at the University of Liege Damien Ernst, Moscow is unlikely to offer discounts on oil supplies around the world as Russia has built up a tanker fleet and turned its back on European customers as it opens new oil refineries in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. European pressure is therefore having less effect.
Since the beginning of Russian special operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the collective West has unleashed unprecedented sanctions pressure on Moscow. The EU alone has imposed 11 packages of sanctions against Russia. Borrell and other EU officials have repeatedly acknowledged that the bloc is running out of room to impose new sanctions against Moscow, and urged for concentration on enforcing pre-existing sanctions.