Tankers carrying Russian oil use sophisticated technology to hide their location - NYT

Tankers carrying Russian oil have learned to use spoofing, a sophisticated technology that allows them to hide their location, to circumvent sanctions.

Source. The New York Times writes about this.

The publication studied satellite images and found at least six vessels that concealed their calls to Russian ports.

Three of the tankers identified by the NYT used spoofing on at least 13 voyages. The vessels were transmitted as being at sea west of Japan, and satellite imagery confirms that they were near an oil terminal in Primorsky Krai at the time.

This terminal is used exclusively for the export of crude oil from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, and it sells for significantly more than the oil stream.

The oil loaded there was taken by tankers to China.

The newspaper found three other vessels that concealed that they had called at Russian ports, but it is not known exactly what cargo they were carrying.

All six tankers, as the NYT found out, are insured by the American Club. The companies that own the tankers are registered in Hong Kong and, by all indications, are fictitious, the newspaper writes.

The sanctions were imposed in December, first on Russian crude oil, and later covered other products, such as fuel oil. In particular, for crude oil, there is a price cap of $60 per barrel to limit Russia's revenue from sales.

The price of specific shipments is not disclosed, but the average price of Russian crude oil remains well above the cap at around $73 per barrel, according to a Times analysis of customs and export data. This suggests that the tankers were transporting oil that was sold above the maximum price, which is a violation of the sanctions.

Background. Earlier, Bloomberg wrote that Russia's attempts to circumvent Western sanctions could lead to an environmental disaster – and European waters are at the greatest risk.