A revealing Bloomberg investigation into how an armada of aging tankers in the Gulf of Laconia is helping Russian oil flow, bypassing sanctions, under the nose of the Coast Guard. All this after the international outcry over the authorities' attitude to the deadly shipwreck off Pylos.
In particular, in order to avoid the sanctions that the Western world has submitted to the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine, hundreds of ships are part of a «shadow fleet» carrying oil.
The Bloomberg investigation has begun to reveal the traders, middlemen and investors who make up this network and how they are getting rich in the process.
The failure of sanctions
A typical example of the failure of the Western world to impose sanctions on Russian oil exports can be seen in a short boat trip from the Greek coastal town of Gythio, where two rusting oil tankers, 57 years old in total, are just a few metres apart.
The identity of the shipowners and the insurer of the ships is unclear. They sail under the only flag in the world that is considered by the authorities as «very high risk». And the ultimate destination of the profits from their Russian fuel trading is a mystery.
The actual locations were more than four miles off from the electronic ones, and according to Bloomberg, this is not a «glitch» but a deliberate deception that is part of a sophisticated system to keep Russian fuel flowing, which is subject to sanctions, often at prices higher than the caps imposed by the West.
The practice of false coordinates
The practice of using false coordinates in the automatic identification system, known as AIS, is called spoofing and disguises the origin of shipments, reassuring nervous buyers trying to conceal their dealings with Russia after sanctions were imposed for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Turba was one of the tankers involved in secret maneuvers on September 19 just a few miles from a beautiful Greek coastal town, according to satellite data processed by Bloomberg.
Built 26 years ago - meaning it should normally have been retired - the ship is Russia's «weapon» to maintain its oil trade.
Attempts to contact the owners of Turba and Simba were unsuccessful. Three international shipping databases offer no means of contacting the owners or managers, while four brokers contacted by Bloomberg also had no details.
The... tricks in the Laconian Gulf
The Gulf of Laconia, about 110 miles southwest of Athens, has emerged as an important maritime hub for Moscow following the Western sanctions. Other locations include Ceuta, a Spanish enclave off the coast of Morocco, and sometimes the «business» is done deep in the Atlantic Ocean.
However, according to Bloomberg, the Gulf of Laconia remains an important hub. Last Tuesday, three ship-to-ship transfers were taking place - all apparently involving refined fuels, not crude - and about 12 tankers were waiting.
The Simba had received Russian-origin fuel from another ship off the coast of Romania earlier this month, according to satellite images collected and inspected by the TankerTrackers.com. He then sailed through the Bosphorus for his rendezvous with the Turba. Kpler, another analysis company, said the cargo was petroleum products.
While Greek companies are not allowed to provide services that help Russia transport oil, local authorities have no power to intervene in the Gulf of Laconia because such activity is taking place outside the six-mile limit of the country's territorial waters.
As Bloomberg comments, Greece does not publish information on tanker movements in the region and it is not clear whether it monitors activity. Greek authorities were not immediately available for comment, the paper stresses.
In addition to concerns about circumventing sanctions, the transport of oil and fuel on the high seas poses a risk to the marine environment as well as to local tourism and fishing industries, due to the age of the ships involved in this trade.
The switch between Turba and Simba took place about four miles from Greek territorial waters and about 17 miles from Gythio, a popular seaside destination. The coastline is also an important nesting area for the loggerhead sea turtle.
