Seatrade Maritime: UK sanctions dark fleet ships and Russian energy majors

The UK government has announced its “strongest sanctions yet” on Russia, with 90 new sanctions targeting Russian energy companies Rosneft and Lukoil, 44 parallel fleet tankers, seven LNG carriers, and more.

The sanction targets are subject to an asset freeze, restrictions on credit, director disqualification, transport restrictions, and a ban on British trust services. In shipping, the sanctions will further limit the availability of insurance for ships carrying cargo related to the sanctioned entities. Sanctioned ships are prohibited from entering a port in the UK, can be detained, and are barred from the UK register.

Underlining the scale of the sanctions, the UK government said Rosneft is responsible for 6% of global oil production and almost half of Russia’s oil production, and together with Lukoil it exports around 3.1m barrels per day of oil. The companies are the two largest Russian energy majors and join Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas on the UK sanctions list, Russia’s third and fourth largest energy majors.

Four Chinese oil terminals have been sanctioned as well as China’s Beihai LNG terminal, which the UK government said had been importing LNG from Russia’s LNG2 project, which the UK sanctioned last year.

Nayara, and Indian refinery in Mumbai owned by Russian interests, was also sanctioned in the new list for importing Russian crude. The UK alleged the company imported over 100m barrels of Russian crude oil in 2024 with a value of over $5bn.

Imports of refined products refined in third countries from Russian-origin crude will be banned in the UK.

The LNG carriers sanctioned for the transportation of Russian LNG include four Russian flagged ships, 2023-built Buran, 2024-built Zarya, 2023-built Voskhod, and 2016-built Christophe de Margerie; two Marshall Islands flagged ships, 2014-built Clean Ocean, 2014-built Clean Planet; and Maltese-flagged 2016-built Clean Vision.

UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “Ukraine’s security is important for the security and stability of the whole of Europe and for the UK. Today’s action is another step towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and towards a more secure United Kingdom. The action we are taking against Russian aggression with partners across Europe makes us stronger here at home.”

Cooper told parliament there were now more than 2,900 sanctioned individuals and entities related to Russia, and that she was prepared to go further.

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves, said: “We are sending a clear signal: Russian oil is off the market.”