Marine vessels

The tanker, during the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and the price cap policy on russian crude oil/petroleum products, has been involved since December 2023 in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products from russian ports in the Pacific region, in the Baltic Sea to third countries, and has been involved in dark activities in the Baltic Sea near the russian ports of Vistino and Ust-Luga, and STS transfers near Malta. In 2024, a tanker under the command of Captain Suo Zhenguo (Chinese nationality) transported russian petroleum products from the port of Ust-Luga to the UAE. Since November 2023, the tanker's owner and managers have been changed to Chinese companies.

The tanker during the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and the price cap policy on russian crude oil/petroleum products is involved in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products from the russian ports of Primorsk, Murmansk, Ust-Luga, Vysotsk to third countries, in particular with the AIS signal disabled in the Baltic Sea near the russian ports of Vistino, Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea. In 2024, a tanker under the command of Captain Karydis Konstantinos (Greek nationality) transported russian petroleum products from the port of Ust-Luga to Turkey.

The tanker during the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and the price cap policy on russian crude oil/petroleum products is actively involved in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products from russian ports in the Black and Baltic seas (Tuapse, Novorossiysk (in particular, from the Sheskharis terminal - a transshipment complex, which is the end point of the main pipelines of JSC Chernomortransneft (TIN 2315072242, under USA sanctions), a subsidiary of the sanctioned PJSC Transneft (TIN 7706061801), Primorsk), including active and prolonged dark activities near russian ports in the Black Sea, near Cyprus. In 2024, a tanker under the command of captains Delara Nel (Maltese nationality) and Nikitopoulos Nikolaos (Greek nationality) transported russian petroleum products from the port of Tuapse to Turkey.

The tanker has been involved in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products from russian ports since November 2023, including the deceptive, high-risk practices of conducting dark activities in the Baltic and Black Seas near russian ports. In 2024, a tanker under the command of Captain Tran Thang Tat (a Vietnamese national) transported petroleum products originating from the sanctioned russian oil company PJSC Lukoil from the russian port of Vysotsk to Malaysia. The tanker carried out an STS transfer in March 2025 in the Kerch Strait with tanker IMO 9235000, which is classified by the international NGO Greenpeace as a shadow fleet of tankers transporting russian crude oil around the world and threatening the environment. In February 2025, an STS transfer took place in the Laconikos Gulf (Greece) with the VLCC-class supertanker IMO 9402732, affiliated with the Indian company Gatik Ship Management, one of the leading operators of the so-called ‘shadow’ fleet involved in the transportation of russian crude oil/petroleum products in 2022-2023 under Western sanctions, and Gatik's related company Gaurik Ship Management, which in 2023, together with Galena Ship Management LLP, Caishan Ship Management, Plutos Ship Management, Geras Ship Management, Girik Ship Management, Orion Ship Management LLP, Nautilus Shipping (India), Ark Seakonnect Shipmanagment LLC, Zidan Ship Management, was involved in a scheme to ‘juggle’ vessels operated by Gatik Ship Management to avoid sanctions.

The tanker, during the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and the price cap policy on russian crude oil/petroleum products, is involved in the export of russian crude oil/petroleum products from russian ports in the Baltic Sea (Ust-Luga, Primorsk), including the use of deceptive, high-risk practices in the Baltic Sea near the russian ports of Vistino and Ust-Luga. In particular, in February 2025, near the russian ports of Vistino and Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea, a tanker carried out STS transshipment of commodity from the tanker IMO 9164718, flagged by the russian federation. In 2024, a tanker under the command of captains Mikhail Stryzhak, Andrey Lemeshko and Vladislav Pavitsky transported russian crude oil, mainly originating from the sanctioned russian oil company PJSC Lukoil, from the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga to India and Turkey. The tanker is affiliated with Stellar Ship Solutions LLC (IMO 0055533), registered at an address in Azerbaijan (Apartment 18, Building 6, Estate 76, AZ 5006, Sumqayit), which is almost identical to the addresses of other companies from Azerbaijan that manage tankers involved in the sanctioned trade in russian crude oil/petroleum products (Fleetcraft Management LLC (address: Apartment 17, Building 5, Estate 76, Sulh Street AZ 5006, Sumqayit Azerbaijan), Titan Marine Management LLC (address: Apartment 17, Building 30, Estate 18, AZ 5000, Sumqayit Azerbaijan), Light Navigation LLC (address: Apartment 130, House 5, Block 15, AZ 5000, Sumqayit Azerbaijan), Aegis Voyage Shipmanagement (address: Apartment 6, House 34, Block 18, Heydar Aliyev Avenue AZ 5000, Sumqayit Azerbaijan), etc. The international NGO Greenpeace refers to the tanker as part of the shadow fleet of tankers transporting russian oil around the world and threatening the environment.

The tanker during the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and price-cap policy on russian crude oil/petroleum products has been involved in exporting russian crude oil/petroleum products from russian ports in the Baltic Sea since October 2023, and has been engaged in deceptive, high-risk practices, including dark activities in the Kerch Strait area. In October 2024, the tanker carried out STS transmissions in the Kerch Strait with IMO tankers 9212008 (under USA sanctions), IMO 9211999 (under USA sanctions), and IMO tanker 9476771, affiliated with a russian company. In 2024, the tanker, under the command of captains Alexander Grigoriev, Ivan Shashin, and Alexander Peregrov, transported crude oil and petroleum products from the russian ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk to India, Turkey, and China. The international NGO Greenpeace refers to the tanker as part of the shadow fleet of tankers transporting russian oil around the world and threatening the environment. According to Unired Against Nuclear Iran, the tanker was involved in the export of Iranian oil and was involved in the transportation of sanctioned russian crude oil/oil products. The tanker is affiliated with the Moldovan company KSN Shipmanagement SRL, which is one of ten Moldovan companies that played a significant role in the maritime transportation of russian oil and transferred the management of the tankers in the fleet to a number of companies from Azerbaijan, while some vessels were transferred to the management of companies from the UAE.

The tanker is affiliated with the Indian company BSM Marine Limited Liability Partnership, which was sanctioned by USA on February 24, 2025 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transportation or marketing of crude oil/petroleum products or petrochemicals from Iran. On February 24, 2025, USA imposed sanctions on a tanker as on the property in which the sanctioned company BSM Marine Limited Liability Partnership has an interest.

The tanker is affiliated with the Malaysia-based IMS Ltd, which was sanctioned by USA on February 24, 2025 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transportation or marketing of crude oil/petroleum products or petrochemicals from Iran. On February 24, 2025, USA imposed sanctions on a tanker as on the property in which the sanctioned company IMS Ltd has an interest.

The tanker is involved in the transportation of Iranian Pars crude oil through STS transfers with a vessel of the sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Petroleum Company, which is managed by the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum. Sanctioned Iranian tankers rely on ship-to-ship transfers outside of jurisdictional port limits with non-sanctioned vessels to transport petroleum to foreign customers, obfuscating the oil’s Iranian origin. The tanker transported numerous shipments of Iranian oil to China. On February 24, 2025, USA imposed sanctions on the tanker.

The tanker was used by the oil broker Petronix Energy Trading Limited (Hong Kong) to transport and further deliver to China hundreds of metric tons of Iranian oil purchased from Naftiran Intertrade Company, which is the marketing arm of the sanctioned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Iran relies on brokers outside of Iran to facilitate the sale and transport of its crude oil to end users abroad, largely in the UAE and China. The tanker is affiliated with Alkonost Maritime DMCC (UAE), which was sanctioned by USA on February 24, 2025 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transportation or marketing of crude oil or petroleum products or petrochemicals from Iran. The tanker during the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and the price cap policy on russian oil called at the russian port of Nakhodka with oil terminals. On February 24, 2025, USA imposed sanctions on the tanker as a property in which the sanctioned company Alkonost Maritime DMCC has an interest.

The tanker is affiliated with the Malaysia-based IMS Ltd, which was sanctioned by USA on February 24, 2025 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transportation or marketing of crude oil/petroleum products or petrochemicals from Iran. On February 24, 2025, USA imposed sanctions on a tanker as on the property in which the sanctioned company IMS Ltd has an interest.

The tanker was used by the oil broker Petronix Energy Trading Limited (Hong Kong) to transport and further deliver to China hundreds of metric tons of Iranian oil purchased from Naftiran Intertrade Company, which is the marketing arm of the sanctioned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Iran relies on brokers outside of Iran to facilitate the sale and transport of its crude oil to end users abroad, largely in the UAE and China. The tanker is affiliated with Alkonost Maritime DMCC (UAE), which was sanctioned by USA on February 24, 2025 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction in the purchase, acquisition, sale, transportation or marketing of crude oil or petroleum products or petrochemicals from Iran. On February 24, 2025, USA imposed sanctions on the tanker as a property in which the sanctioned company Alkonost Maritime DMCC has an interest.