The secret switching of Russian fuel cargoes between tankers at sea has migrated to new hotspots off the coast of Greece after the European country used naval drills to try and block the activity in one location.
About 1 million barrels a month of diesel, fuel oil and other petroleum products has been getting flipped near the islands of Lesbos and Chios in the Aegean Sea, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. The area only became popular after Greece’s navy carried out drills around the Laconian Gulf, previously the No. 1 site for the practice in Europe.
A surge in ship-to-ship transfers involving Russian oil and fuel in and around Europe has raised environmental concerns because of question marks over the safety and insurance of the vessels involved.
The practice, sometimes carried out in secret with digital tracking beacons switched off or falsified, can help to obscure the origins of the oil, helping to beat sanctions. It also creates another layer of separation between the buyers and sellers of cargoes.
Ship-to-ship switching is still happening close by the Laconian Gulf, but at a much-reduced rate since Greece’s naval drills began. The maneuvers left a narrow stretch of water unaffected and it’s in that location that they’re still taking place.
The transfers have also become regular off the Italian port of Augusta since May, when the Greek navy began its exercises. On November 14, the drills were extended until mid-March.
Photograph: An oil tanker sail at sunset. Photo credit: Marcelo del Pozo/Bloomberg
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