Several countries are introducing sanctions on Russian vessels, including the United Kingdom who have banned any ship connected to Russia from entering UK waters. The UK Government has gone further, bringing in new powers that allow UK ports to detain Russian vessels. This applies to Russian flagged, registered, owned, controlled, chartered vessels, and those operated by Russia. However, the UK Government has been criticised over a lack of clear guidance on applying the latest measures as it appears that the Department of Transport has imposed these sanctions with the onus on ports to exercise their own due diligence. According to Lloyd’s List, with approximately 6,000 vessels linked to Russia, of which 60% do not operate under the Russian flag, this would require UK ports to track a global list of Russian-affiliated vessels, posing a risk of either falling short of the new legislation, or possible miscalculations against unconnected vessels. Industry is therefore calling for the UK Government to disseminate a ‘blacklist’ to ease the burden on UK ports. Further sanctions are set to follow, with the United States considering similar actions to tighten sea restrictions for Russian ships.

Canada has already imposed a ban on Russian vessels entering their waters and the U.S. west coast dockers unions (ILWU) have announced to their members that they will refuse to handle any Russian ships or cargoes. The European Parliament has adopted a resolution last week calling for EU ports to enforce similar rules on Russian vessels. This also extends to ships whose previous or next port calls are located in the Russian Federation, not including crossings for necessary humanitarian reasons. It would appear though that EU member states – who have the ultimate decision-power on sanctions – are not introducing such a ban.

Newly released EU sanctions will however implement a ban on export to Russia of maritime navigation and radio communication technology. Export of maritime safety equipment should still be possible subject to prior information sharing. The EU has further placed the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping on the list of state-owned enterprises which are subject to financial restrictions. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian minister of infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, has called upon the IMO to issue a global ban of entry to the ports of the IMO member states ships sailing under the flag of the Russian Federation and ships that are beneficially owned by citizens of the Russian Federation.
Source: IAPH