Mass media: Iranian "ghost tankers" started transporting Russian oil

This conclusion was reached during the investigation by the journalists of the Financial Times (FT). According to reporters, since December 2022, Russia has switched to the use of "invisible" tankers.

Their secret is that tracking systems are disabled on them during the journey to their destination. This does not allow observers to establish their route, get information about the official owner and the port of registry.

As Kommersant notes, usually ghost tankers are used by Iran and Venezuela to transport oil bypassing sanctions. Their existence has been known since 2020. Researchers believe that a total of 288 vessels can be used in such transportation schemes, of which about 100 may be connected with Russia. However, it is extremely difficult to trace the ownership of such tankers, since they are registered as front persons through a network of offshore companies, and quite often change owners in order to avoid sanctions.

The relevance of new types of oil transportation for Russia has grown after, as part of the sanctions measures taken in response to the conduct of the Russian military operation on In Ukraine, the EU has set a ceiling on oil prices from the Russian Federation and almost completely banned its import.