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Endless fascination surrounds the flow of water, the burn of fire, and Bloomberg’s diligent tracking of Russian tankers. Recently, Bloomberg highlighted what seemed a minor tempest, reporting that nearly every Russian oil tanker affected by sanctions has been idle for months. Currently, 40 such vessels are idle, with 21 owned by Sovcomflot. According to Bloomberg, this signifies that the sanctions are effectively crippling.

However, this represents only a small fraction of the fleet involved in transporting Russian oil and fuel. The larger shadow fleet of Russia, as per various estimates, includes over 1,100 tankers, with 75% of the global shadow fleet engaged in exporting Russian oil. These shadow vessels constitute about 18% of total transportation, and their share is expected to increase. Earlier, The International Group of P&I Clubs acknowledged the sanctions’ limited impact, noting that about 800 tankers have ceased using their services.

Moreover, sanctions have seemingly not deterred operations. In late April, a tanker owned by Sovcomflot, under US sanctions, offloaded fuel oil at a port in western India. India appears poised to boost its Russian oil purchases and offer insurance services to these vessels.

Bloomberg also reports ongoing activity near the Greek coast, where Russian tankers frequently transfer oil from ship to ship, often under the scrutiny of NATO countries. This has led to regular naval exercises intended to disrupt these operations. Just yesterday, about seven tankers were observed returning to southern Greece, only to be displaced by a naval exercise today. Nevertheless, these operations occur in areas challenging for Athens to legally intervene, ensuring the continued presence of these “roaming” vessels.

Amidst U.S. sanction enactments and NATO maneuvers, Russia persists in selling oil across the Asia-Pacific and even to parts of Europe.