“It is good to see concrete actions.”
Those were the words of Lloyd’s Market Association legal director Arabella Ramage (pictured) after the addition of 11 more tankers to the UK’s list of sanctions against Russia. The ships, some of which are considered part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, export the country’s oil. State-run Sovcomflot PJSC owns eight of the named oil tankers.
The additional sanctions specifications coincide with the launch of a massive ‘call to action’ led by the UK against shadow fleet activities.
“We are pleased to see that the government has heeded the insurance industry’s requests to take greater steps to designate individual vessels, which enables better practical support to the ambitions of the Russian sanctions,” Ramage commented.
“It is good to see concrete actions arising out of the ongoing unprecedented information collection exercise.”
Launched during last week’s European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace, the call to action is aimed at information sharing and response coordination in terms of mitigating the threat resulting from the shadow fleet.
The collective move headed by the UK involves Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the European Union.
“We are coming together… determined to address the risks that the ‘shadow fleet’ poses to the environment, maritime safety and security in Europe and beyond, the integrity of international seaborne trade, and respect for international maritime law,” the endorsing countries and the EU said.
As part of the initiative, the marine insurance industry and other maritime stakeholders are urged to play their part in supporting the prevention, detection, and reporting of activities carried out by the relevant vessels.
In a related development, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, making the latter the first foreign leader to visit Number 10 since Starmer’s General Election win.
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