Tankers owned by European companies from the beginning of the war in Ukraine until the end of August transported up to 101.59 million dwt of oil, coal and liquefied natural gas from Russia. This is stated in the investigation of the projects of Investigate Europe and Reporters United; The Russian version of the article was published by Meduza.
The journalists analyzed the data on the carrying capacity of ships for the transportation of energy carriers that left Russian ports from February 24 to August 31. Vessels with European owners departed from them 1513 times. They accounted for 55% of the total supply of fuel by sea in the world.
Most of the Russian fossil fuels were removed by ships owned by Greek companies: they accounted for 49.8 million dwt of oil, 12.4 dwt of coal and 2.6 tons of liquefied gas. Tankers owned by companies from China, the UAE and Germany transported 20.9 million, 14.3 million and 9.2 million dwt.
Among the top 10 companies transporting Russian fuel, seven were from Greece , two from Germany and one from Monaco. According to the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA), 15 companies insured the shipments. Of these, 13 were members of the largest consortium of marine cargo insurers IGP&I; In March, the government of Ukraine asked the association to stop insuring cargo from Russia.
Distribution of the volume of fuel transported from Russian ports by country/Infographics Investigate Europe
Representatives of the Norwegian company Viken Shipping told reporters that they leased ships even before the war in Ukraine, and after February 24 they “recommended” customers not to depart from Russian ports. This, according to them, continued to do only the French Total. The press service of Total said that they «categorically condemn the Russian military aggression against Ukraine» and promised to stop purchasing Russian oil products by the end of 2022.
Head of the Union of Greek Shipowners Melina Travlu said at an industry conference in June, that they “strongly condemn” Russia’s actions in Ukraine, but “the Greek shipowners are not doing anything illegal” and “do not violate any embargoes.”
The Norwegian insurance company Gard AS, which turned out to be the third in terms of the number of insured fuel deliveries from Russia, said that they «strictly comply with the conditions of all sanctions.» Other companies mentioned in the investigation declined to comment to reporters.