IGOR ORLOV

The vessel is affiliated with the russian company Middle-Volga Shipping Company LLC (ООО "Средне-Волжская судоходная компания") – a designated entity under Ukrainian sanctions – which, within the framework of the russian state procurement system, has served as a supplier to the sanctioned Rosnefteflot JSC (АО "Роснефтефлот") under at least two contracts worth a total of 94.4 million rubles. Rosnefteflot JSC is part of the corporate group of the sanctioned russian PJSC Rosneft Oil Company (ПАО "НК "Роснефть""), a state-owned oil and gas company and one of the largest oil producers in the world. The main activities of Rosnefteflot JSC include, in particular, chartering tanker tonnage for PJSC Rosneft Oil Company and organising river transportation in the interests of PJSC Rosneft Oil Company in the Volga– Don, Azov– Don, Volga and Volga– Baltic basins. The fleet of the vessel’s owning company includes other designated vessels.
The tanker has been implicated in bunkering operations in the Kerch Strait area, has made port calls at terminals in the temporarily occupied territory (TOT) of Crimea (Ukraine), and has systematically engaged in dark activity by disabling its Automatic Identification System (AIS) near russian ports in the Sea of Azov, as well as in the Kerch Strait area in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
In September 2024, in the Kerch Strait area, the tanker bunkered the vessel IMO 9851127 and also bunkered the tanker IMO 9640554, the latter affiliated with the designated russian company Rosewood Shipping LLC (ООО "Роузвуд Шиппинг").