Russian oil tankers turn to stealth shipments under sanctions

Ship data shows sharp rise in crude with no set destination

20220511N Russia oil tanker

A Russian tanker delivers oil to Norway in April. The European Union announced a proposed ban on Russian oil imports last week. © Reuters

TORU TSUNASHIMA, KAZUTO SHIMADA and NAOYUKI TOYAMA, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- Nearly a third of oil tankers operated by Russia's largest maritime transport company were sailing without reported destinations at times since the invasion of Ukraine, in what analysts say shows the difficulty of enforcing Western sanctions on Moscow's energy exports.

State-run Sovcomflot lacked destination information for up to 24 of its 76 tankers at the same time in March and April, shows a Nikkei analysis of public data provided by MarineTraffic.

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