Shadow Fleet

The tanker is involved in the export of russian oil/oil products from russian ports in the Azov and Black Seas, mainly to Turkey and Egypt, uses deceptive practices (AIS shutdown, spoofing), including in the Kerch Strait area, calls at the port of Crimea (a port on the shore of the Kerch Strait, located near the village of Zhukovka, is part of the Kerch ferry service (the line from the port of Crimea to the port of Kavkaz), in 2014-2015 the port was dredged, which increased the capacity of the line), the port of Kerch in the TOT of Crimea.
The vessel is affiliated with the russian company Middle-Volga Shipping Company LLC (under Ukrainian sanctions), which is a supplier to the sanctioned Rosnefteflot JSC (at least under two contracts worth 94.4 million rubles) within the russian state procurement system. Rosnefteflot JSC is a part of the group of the sanctioned russian PJSC Rosneft Oil Company, a russian state-owned oil and gas company, one of the world's largest oil producers. The main activities of Rosnefteflot JSC are, in particular, the chartering of the tanker fleet for the benefit of Rosneft, organization of river transportation in the interests of Rosneft in the Volga-Don, Azov-Don, Volga and Volga-Baltic basins.
The owner and manager of the vessel is the Maltese company Hai Ocean Shipping Co Ltd, which is associated, in particular, with russian citizen Mikhail Slobodov as one of the two owners of the company.

During the oil embargo and price cap policy, the tanker is involved in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products, including through STS transfers, particularly in the Gulf of Laconikos.
The vessel is also involved in the transportation of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. Since russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, more than 100 vessels that previously helped Iran export oil are now helping russia transport russian crude oil and petroleum products.
Many tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil to countries such as China are also involved in Venezuelan trade, including tanker IMO 9213296. On June 11, 2022, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed a 20-year cooperation agreement to expand ties in the oil and petrochemical industries, as well as in the military and economic spheres. Since then, bilateral ties have begun to develop. Most cargo is transported by ships belonging to the sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) in both directions. A significant number of ships flying under foreign (non-Iranian) flags are also involved in this trade.

During the period of the G7, EU oil embargo and price-cap policy on russian crude oil/petroleum products, the tanker was involved in 2023, early 2024 in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products, and in conducting dark activities at sea, in particular near russian ports in the Black Sea, in the Kola Bay area.
The tanker is affiliated with the Turkish company Active Denizcilik ve Gemi (under UK sanctions), which was the commercial and ISM manager of the vessel from June 2023 to March 2024. Active Denizcilik ve Gemi is one of the top three ranking Turkish operators, which in 2023 provided transportation of tens of millions of barrels of russian oil and oil products. The fleet of the Turkish top three - Beks Tanker Isletmeciligi AS and the sanctioned Beks Gemi Isletmeciligi ve Tic and Active Denizcilik ve Gemi - transported a total of 49 million barrels of russian oil/oil products in 2023.

The vessel makes regular calls to and from the ports in the territory temporarily occupied by russia in Crimea (Sevastopol, Kerch). In particular, on 23 January 2024, it entered Sevastopol Bay, and on 21 March 2024, the tanker entered Sevastopol Bay with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled. According to AIS data, the vessel arrived from the russian port of Temryuk.
Between October 1, 2025, and March 28, 2026, it was used to supply vessels subject to sanctions. The vast majority of operations took place in the waters of Sevastopol Bay and Kamyshova Bay.
Between February 22 and 23, 2026, vessels IMO 8727240 and IMO 6603177 bunkered fuel to the sanctioned vessel IMO 9366110, which loaded 15,088 metric tons of wheat at the "Avlita" terminal in the temporarily occupied seaport of Sevastopol, after which it departed for the Turkish port of Iskenderun. The grain exporter was "Partnership" LLC (TIN: 2311288071).
On June 29, 2026, the vessel IMO 6603177 was bunkering the vessel IMO 9549281— the one that had stolen grain from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine—at the port of Sevastopol.