Following the article in The New York Times on oil tankers chartered by U.S.-based companies still transporting millions of barrels of oil out of Russian ports, we decided to check who these companies were and where they are domiciled. According to Windward’s behavioral data, after the initial drop following the invasion, activities by American and British vessels in Russian ports haven’t stopped completely during this past week and following the ban announcement.

The image shows port calls performed by six crude oil tankers with an American affiliation and an LNG tanker with British affiliation that arrived at the Russian port no earlier than March 9. Data indicates that most crude oil tankers calling port in Russia since Feb 28 had registered owners, or registered beneficial owners, that are Greece-affiliated (not Russia-affiliated, as we expected following market restrictions). There are about 30 of these crude oil tankers. In addition, the most common registered flag of tankers visiting Russian ports in the past week was Liberia, with 11 unique tankers. Liberia is referred to in the industry as an “open registry” – a business enterprise that allows vessels to register in, as opposed to national flags like Germany or the U.S

It seems like some companies are taking a less proactive approach, leading them to conduct
business as usual with the Russian energy market
Source: Windward