The tanker with Russian oil did not pay attention to the threats of London and passed the English Channel

A tanker carrying Russian oil that has fallen under UK sanctions is completing its passage through the English Channel. This comes a few days after London imposed new sanctions against tankers serving Russian exports and promised to crack down on vessels with "dubious insurance," which also includes a vessel passing by the shores of Great Britain.

According to AIS vessels, the tanker Ozanno is heading with a cargo of Russian oil from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to Malta and on October 23 completes a two-day passage through the English Channel. The vessel can carry 112 thousand tons of raw materials and for the first time passes by the British shores after the imposition of sanctions against it. London announced restrictions on the tanker, which was then called Ocean Amz, at the end of July.

According to the Equasis database, since September the tanker has already been owned by Zorren Depth Shipping from the UAE, and the operator is the Indian Atos Remote Solutions.

The piquancy of the situation is given by the fact that last week London announced new sanctions against tankers carrying Russian oil and promised to crack down on vessels with "dubious insurance", which any vessel of the gray fleet falls under.

"The Ministry of Transport is working together with the Joint Maritime Safety Center (JMSC) and the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency (MCA) to force shadow fleet vessels with suspected dubious insurance to provide detailed information about their insurance status when passing through the English Channel," the British Foreign Office said.

Specialized Western media noticed the tanker's route even before the vessel passed through the strait, but the British authorities did nothing. At least, according to AIS, the vessel passed the strait without stopping. Obviously, this is due to the fact that the tanker is passing by the shores of the UK, but in international waters and has all the rights to freedom of navigation.

December 5, 2022 The EU and the G7 countries have set a limit on the price of Russian oil for third countries, and have banned carriers from transporting raw materials in case of violation of the limit. Western shipowners take this into account. However, the grey fleet, which has been formed in recent years, has taken over the lion's share of transportation and bypasses restrictions, which is why the West is imposing new sanctions and trying to find new measures to bring the situation under control.