In the Gulf of Finland, “ghost tankers” with sanctioned Russian oil threaten the safety of shipping

Unidentified "ghost tankers" carrying Russian oil have appeared in the Gulf of Finland. Their number has increased sharply after the G7 countries introduced a maximum price for Russian oil products, and the EU and Great Britain banned the import of Russian crude oil by sea.

Euractiv writes about it.

Hundreds of tankers in poor technical condition threaten the safety of shipping and the environment. The Coast Guard of the Gulf of Finland noted that the crew of some of the vessels had probably not sailed in the area before. This creates a risk of an accident.

In the event of an accident and oil spill, Finland and Estonia will have to eliminate the consequences, because there is no data on the condition, age and insurance of the unidentified ships.

• On February 4, the Council of the European Union officially approved price restrictions on oil products exported or originating from the Russian Federation. The marginal price of discounted Russian petroleum products (such as fuel oil) is currently $45 per barrel, and $100 for premium products such as diesel. These are the maximum prices at which oil products from the Russian Federation can be transported by sea to third countries. They came into effect on February 5, 2023.
• According to expertsʼ estimates, the "shadow fleet" that helps the Russians transport sanctioned oil consists of about 600 vessels, which is about 10% of the worldʼs number of large tankers.
• Bloomberg found two companies from India and the United Arab Emirates that help Russia circumvent sanctions by providing it with oil tankers.