Russia shields sanctioned tankers from US seizures with new flags
A rising number of Western-sanctioned oil tankers have switched to the Russian flag in recent weeks to dodge American seizures, including at least three vessels operating near Venezuela that reregistered in Russia since late December.
The standout case involves the Bella 1, renamed Marinera and listed in Russia's official ship registry with Sochi as its home port while evading US Coast Guard pursuit in the Atlantic Ocean. Russia lodged a formal diplomatic protest with the US State Department on New Year's Eve, demanding an end to the chase. Two more tankers, Hyperion and Premier, followed suit after getting stuck in Venezuelan waters; Hyperion departed Venezuela on January 1 under the Russian flag.
This rush to reregister gained momentum after Gambia struck more than 70 sanctioned tankers from its registry in November, deeming their maritime certificates fraudulent. Left effectively stateless, these ships became prime targets for seizure under international maritime law.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, stateless vessels can be boarded and confiscated in international waters. The United States has leveraged this to grab two others, Skipper and Centuries, in recent weeks as part of President Donald Trump's blockade on tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
Hyperion and Premier had offloaded Russian naphtha cargoes at Venezuela's José terminal in mid-December but remained trapped after losing Gambian registration. Flying a nation's flag grants ships that country's protection under international rules.
Windward, a maritime intelligence firm, describes this as a shift from opportunistic flags in lax registries like those of Gabon, Gambia, and Comoros to deliberate state-backed shielding. Previously, the sanctions-evasion "dark fleet" relied on minimal oversight from such open registers.
The move follows Ukrainian drone strikes on falsely flagged tankers in the Black Sea, such as the Virat, hit in late November and later sold to Russian interests. Over the past 18 months, hundreds of carriers hauling Russian, Venezuelan, and Iranian oil have faced sanctions, with many turning to about 18 bogus registries flagged by the International Maritime Organization as nonexistent. Windward data from August revealed that at least two-thirds of sanctioned crude tankers sailed under fake flags.
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