RANGLER

During the period of the G7 and EU oil embargo and the price-cap policy on russian oil, the tanker is involved in the export of oil to third countries from russian ports in the Baltic Sea, transshipment of russian oil from ship to ship in the area of anchorages in Greece and Malta. The transshipment of oil from ship to ship off the coast of Greece and Malta is reminiscent of the activities of the so-called 'STS hubs' that emerged several years ago in the UAE, Oman and Malaysia in response to USA sanctions against Venezuelan and Iranian oil. This methodology is aimed at concealing the origin, ownership and final destination of questionable cargo. The tanker resorts to the practice of turning off the AIS signal, conducting so-called 'dark activities', in particular in the Baltic Sea.
The tanker calls at ports in TOT Crimea, Ukraine, in particular, in May 2025, the vessel called at the port of Kamysh-Burun.
The owner and commercial manager of the vessel is Ethereal Harbor Corp, a company registered in the Seychelles. The ISM manager of the tanker is Harmony Voyage Shipmanagement, a Kazakh company. The fleet of these companies consists only of the tanker ІМО 9206671.
Against the backdrop of sanctions, russia is using a scheme of 'juggling' ships between related companies to conceal oil exports outside the price cap and other restrictions, as well as to hide the real owners of ships, and to ensure unimpeded transportation of fossil fuels by a 'shadow' fleet of outdated oil tankers, creates new companies for these purposes (in the UAE, Hong Kong, India, Turkey, Mauritius, Seychelles, and other jurisdictions) with non-transparent organizational and ownership structures. In order to implement this scheme, technical/commercial management and ship owners are constantly changing, and vessels are renamed with a change of flag, MMSI, call-sign, including for sanctioned vessels. Shadow fleet vessels operate under 'convenient flags', which allows them to conceal their true origin and avoid control by international organizations and insurance companies.
The international non-governmental organization Greenpeace classifies tanker IMO 9206671 as part of russia's shadow fleet.
The shadow fleet of russia, transporting huge volumes of crude oil through heavily trafficked routes through narrow straits close to the coastline, without proper P&I insurance, with automatic identification systems disabled, threatens an environmental disaster with significant economic costs to be borne by the affected coastal countries and/or the international community. Tshadow fleet' continues to generate billions of dollars in revenue for the Kremlin bypassing sanctions, disguising its activities under the flags of third countries, using complex schemes to conceal owners, and poses significant environmental threats with significant economic costs to coastal countries and/or the international community due to the outdated and inadequate insurance of shadow fleet tankers.
On April 11, 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the master of vessel IMO 9206671.
On May 20, 2025, the EU imposed sanctions, which enter into force on May 21, 2025, on the tanker for the transportation of crude oil/petroleum products originating in or exported from russia, using irregular high-risk shipping practices as specified in the International Maritime Organization General Assembly Resolution A.1192(33).
On June 03, 2025, the sanctions imposed by Switzerland on the vessel came into force.