Shadow Fleet sends sanctioned tankers for scrap

More and more shadow fleet tankers are being scrapped due to sanctions, Bloomberg writes. At the same time, reports of ship brokers say that the fleet is replenished.

"The sale of the tanker, which is under US sanctions and is being dismantled in India, provides for extended payment terms and measures to conceal the identity of the owner. These unusual conditions indicate the growing pressure on the old vessels of the "shadow fleet" in connection with the tightening of sanctions," the agency writes.

According to him, the Contract II tanker, built almost three decades ago and sanctioned in 2019 under the name Jasmine for participating in the Iranian oil trade, was stranded at the end of June in Alang, a ship recycling center in western India.

"In recent months, more such vessels have appeared in this center, as fines make it difficult to use old tankers for oil trading," Bloomberg writes.

Indeed, sanctions, especially the United States, have complicated the work of tankers and increased the cost of transporting sanctioned oil, which receives raw materials from Iran, Venezuela and Russia.

However, the shadow fleet continues to be replenished, according to reports from ship brokers.

So, according to Banchero Costa, from July 21 to August 4, 11 tankers were transferred to unknown owners. Some of them are from China and Turkey. Among them are three Aframax and Suezmax class tankers, which are the basis of the shadow fleet.

The shadow fleet is called vessels that carry sanctioned oil, have unknown owners and are older than 15 years.