Russian tankers sail under Gabonese flags to skirt U.S. sanctions

Gabon has become a place where Russians hide their tankers from the "shadow fleet." This is due to American sanctions. According to "The Wall Street Journal," the number of ships registered in this equatorial country on the west coast of Africa has increased sixfold since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

According to the newspaper's website, many Russian tankers sailed under Liberia's flag, which is popular in the shipping industry. However, as "The Wall Street Journal" notes, American sanctions have reached there too — especially since the company maintaining the shipping registry in Liberia is registered in the USA.

Since October 2023, Washington has implemented measures against nearly 40 ships that violate the Western countries' requirement for a price cap on Russian oil set at 84 Canadian dollars per barrel. As part of this campaign, sanctions were imposed on 21 Sovcomflot tankers and, in February 2024, the company itself.

Sovcomflot is the largest Russian shipping company and one of the global leaders in marine hydrocarbon transport. It also provides support for subsea exploration and oil and gas extraction.

WSJ, citing people familiar with the situation, writes that 50 Sovcomflot tankers that previously sailed under Liberia's flag have been reregistered in Gabon. In total, Gabon now has over 100 ships on its registry.

According to Lloyd's List Intelligence, more than 70 have unknown owners and are part of a secret tanker fleet used to transship oil affected by sanctions. The Comoros and Cameroon have also been actively used for the same purpose.

According to estimates by shipowners and maritime brokers, about 15 percent of all tankers now sail under a new or false flag (when the ship is not registered in the given country).

Working conditions on the tankers that joined the "shadow fleet" are tricky but "profitable." Nigerian mechanic Umar Bello told "WSJ" that he made two voyages on a 24-year-old tanker sailing under the Gabonese flag, transporting oil from Novorossiysk to India.

Sailors bought their medicines, ate canned food, had no internet connection at sea, and did not receive sick pay. Bello said crew members were paid one-third of the amount upfront and the rest at the end of the voyage, all in cash—twice as much as on other ships.

According to Greek maritime officials, ships sailing under the Gabonese flag actively transship Russian oil off the southern coast of Greece. This is usually done to load a giant tanker for a long voyage or to hide the origin of the oil and petroleum products.

Harry Teochari, a senior consultant at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, said many of these shadow fleet vessels do not have adequate insurance and, due to their age, are prone to serious breakdowns that could lead to an environmental disaster.

According to WSJ, since 2022, at least 17 sailors have died in three incidents involving ships sailing under the Comoros flag, including a container ship from Russia that broke in two.