Panama succumbed to sanctions against Russia: tankers are deprived of the flag, and the country loses a million

While the Panamanian authorities are menacingly fending off Donald Trump's statements about a possible change of ownership of the Panama Canal, they are yielding to pressure from the United States and other Western countries on sanctions against tankers that fly the local flag and carry Russian oil. The maritime authorities of the country are going to revoke the registration of 128 vessels and lose revenues of $ 2 million per year. The Russian Sovcomflot has already passed this.

Panama will cancel the registration of 128 vessels that sail under its flag and have been sanctioned by the United States, other Western countries or the UN.

Ramon Franco, Director General of the Panama Maritime Administration, told Bloomberg that 70 tankers had already lost their flag and dozens more would suffer the same fate.

In January, the White House announced new sanctions against Russia. Since March, when they came into force, more than 180 tankers of the Russian Sovcomflot and companies that are classified as the gray fleet have been subject to restrictions.

Ramon Franco admitted to the agency that Panama will suffer losses due to the cancellation of the registration of so many vessels. The country's income will decrease by $ 2 million per year, he explained.

Sovcomflot and other owners of tankers carrying Russian oil have already faced similar bans from countries that are popular for flag registration due to tax incentives.

For example, Liberia, whose authorities also began to deprive tankers of the flag. As a result, more than a year ago, Sovcomflot changed the registration of 78 tankers. They stood under the flag of Gabon. Even earlier, in the spring of 2023, the shipping register of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis deprived the registration of the vessels of the Indian Gatik Ship Management for bypassing the sanctions — the ceiling of the price of the "Big Seven" to Russian oil. Then dozens of tankers also changed their registration to Gabon and Mongolia, and later transferred them to new small operators.

Experts noted to EADaily that Western sanctions create problems and increase the cost of exporting Russian oil, but cannot stop it, as the ships change their registration, names and owners, after which they re-embark on flights.