Brokers Poten highlighted the risk of an increase in the dark or shadow fleet, when the EU import and G7 price cap for Russian oil are applied.
According to brokers Poten, “the illegal nature of the business makes it impossible to use reputable crew managers and arranging proper insurance is difficult as well. To obfuscate the illicit nature of their employment, owners of these tankers frequently change the vessel’s name and ownership and flag them in jurisdictions that are known to be less strict.”
As a result, the risk that these vessels being involved in accidents is high, and so is the potential harm that could be inflicted on the crews and the environment.
This risk was highlighted in two recent incidents, when the Djibouti-flagged, VLCC Young Yong ran aground in Indonesia waters in the Singapore Strait, carrying a crude oil cargo from Malaysia to China.
According to Poten, “the VLCC in question was recently blacklisted by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) because it was part of the so-called ‘Dark Fleet’, involved in the illicit transportation of Iranian oil.”
The second incident involved an Aframax loaded with Russian crude, which was briefly adrift off the Spanish coast.
The dark fleet has grown dramatically over the last two years from 70 vessels in November 2020 to 257 currently. The latest sanctions on Russian oil could result in further substantial growth and Poten noted the brisk sales of secondhand tanker tonnage despite rising prices for older tonnage. It said least 60 VLCCs, 42 Suezmaxes and 93 Aframaxes, of over 15-years of age had changed hands year-to-date.
If Russia will start utilizing more vessels from the Dark Fleet, the average age of their export tankers will rise dramatically and (unfortunately), so will the risk of incidents
Poten concluded.
