Much more Ships They usually swapped their Russian flags for those of other countries last March, according to maritime consultancy Windward Ltd., in order to hide ties with Putin and not call for direct involvement in Western sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, as it has already done happened to all the yachts of the Russian oligarchs. A total of 18 ships, including 11 merchant ships from the same fleet, changed banding, more than three times the monthly average for Russian ships. It’s also the first time the number has double digits, based on data going back to January 2020.
“They hide their identity”
“Some of these cases could indicate that bad actors are masking themselves intentionally their identities to conduct business that would not be allowed by the new sanctions,” Windward, the Tel Avivbased company, said in a report sent to international New York news agency Bloomberg News. As previously mentioned, these flag changes are also “sons of what happened to Usmanov, Abramovich and company, who experienced sanctions and kidnappings on their sea monsters. They also disabled their identification and positiontransmitting systems, which by law always remain on at sea must: this practice helps avoid detection (and thus exact position determination) and poses risks for maritime safety.
“What is behind the change of flag”
As reported on Bloomberg, the US, UK and other NATO allies have tightened sanctions against Russia: Biden has now banned Russian oil and gas imports for almost a month, while Britain will halt Russia’s oil imports by the end of 2022. Both countries, along with Canada, have also banned any type of Russian ships from their ports. “Foreign companies have different reasons for moving away from the Russian flag, they want their ships to be able to do that work everywhere without restrictions and partly for moral reasons, said Gur Sender, product manager at the Windward company other three they have changed with the tax haven of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The change of flag prior to achieving these warrelated and discussed reasons was not uncommon: sometimes there was a change of ownership or area of operation. Singapore’s ships changed flag an average of 17 times a month in 2021, while Japan changed flag an average of five times a month in 2022. However, these numbers are consistent with what happens in normal trading. Instead the Russian fleet suddenly increased its total crew to 3,300 men, a number not exceeded in a single month since January 2020: beyond hints, here we find overwhelming evidence.