Foreign ship owners are becoming increasingly wary of moving cargoes of Russian oil due to the conflict in Ukraine and the impact of Western sanctions on Moscow, the head of leading private Greek shipping group Angelicoussis said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden has imposed a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and there is growing uncertainty over potentially tougher restrictions across Europe.

Maria Angelicoussis, CEO of Angelicoussis Group, said the conflict “was having a big effect” on the tanker market.

“There is a big hesitancy among ship owners to ship any Russian oil or products,” she told the FT Commodities Global Summit. “There is self-sanctioning.”

“European refineries are having to source oil from further away.”

Angelicoussis Group is one of the world’s biggest private ship owning groups and its fleet includes oil tankers.

“We won’t be lifting Russian cargoes,” Angelicoussis said. “There is a huge ethical component of that as well.”
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jonathan Saul Editing by Mark Potter)