Insurers from the West continue to cover Russian oil transport – report

Western providers continue to insure tankers transporting Russian oil, according to a Reuters exclusive.

Traders and shippers’ data seen by the news agency indicated that West, headquartered in Luxembourg, was among five insurers that covered 10 such ships. Gard in Norway and American Club were also listed. According to the Reuters report, the vessels carried oil from Russia to Asia in 2024.

It was noted that American Club and West insured the Gioiosa and the Orion I, which data showed loaded crude from Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil firm, in the Baltic region and transported it to China.

American Club confirmed that the Panama-flagged Gioiosa was on its insured list, while West declined to comment on specific ships. Gard, covering a different vessel, also chose not to comment on individual tankers.

According to the report, the non-profit mutual insurers pointed to their obligations to their members, adding that they rely on attestation letters to ensure compliance with Western sanctions.

All three also stated that they would terminate coverage if it was found that the attestation was not accurate and the oil price exceeded the G7 (Group of Seven) cap.

Meanwhile, an earlier report by Bloomberg cited a liquefied natural gas tanker that was supposedly faking its location while being docked at a sanctioned Russian gas facility. Its insurer is listed as “unknown” on the database of the International Maritime Organisation.

Bloomberg noted that tracking information for the ship points to the Barents Sea northeast of Norway, far from its actual whereabouts at the Arctic LNG 2 export plant on which the US had imposed sanctions.

Satellite images, Bloomberg reported, do not show the vessel in the location indicated by the tracking system in what is a common ‘spoofing’ move by shadow fleet.

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