Michelle Wiese Bockmann

last week the EU sanctioned 105 tankers to bring the total sanctioned to 440-plus. Today the UK added another 135 ships to its list, as well as the UAE-based subsidiary of Litasco, linked to Lukoil, one of the major oil exporters in Russia and Intershipping Services (the flag…

Who is the mystery flag registry sanctioned by the EU? Gabon. Intershipping Services . (Plus a few more other companies listed I’ve seen)

With the EU's 18th sanctions package approved today, and the crude price cap lowered to $46.70 per barrel, the tanker trading landscape in Russia is going to change very, very quickly. As Windward analysis showed in this report published earlier this week, nearly 40% of Russia…

My kamikaze kitty: Katie normally sleeps on the left side of my desk while I’m working. Today she’s perilously placed herself on the window ledge in the sun.

European-owned vessels are now exporting nearly 40% of all Russian oil. yes that's right. At the same time the EU27 argues over whether to lower the oil price cap to $45/bbl or 15%, and Donald Trump threatens secondary tariffs on Russian exports if there's no ceasefire in 50…

“Since China imports substantial volumes of crude oil from sanctioned countries such as Iran and Russia, its dominance in the (reported) spot market has been waning.”

Not all sanctions are equal. Russia-trading, EU-sanctioned tankers newly flagged to Vanuatu are the latest contemporaneous example of how the maritime game of regulatory arbitrage is playing out in the Baltic Sea. Our @WindwardAI investigation explains how Western sanctions are…

I've uncovered yet another fraudulent registry, this time in Benin -- adding to Aruba, Eswatini, Guinea, Guyana, Malawi, Curacao and St Maarten. all the details in free-to-read blog for @WindwardAI

🚩 Benin has officially entered the dark fleet map. Windward uncovered two VLCCs fraudulently flagged under Benin, a flag the IMO designates as false. One of them, Azelia, went dark after transiting the Singapore Strait. It's likely headed for Iran.🧵

A general cargo vessel calling at Gdansk, Poland, had its AIS signal jammed to appear in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. Less than two weeks earlier, another incident spoofed the same ship into Finnish waters while actually in Russia. 🧵

UK's National Crime Agency issues red alert on shadow fleet evasion and avoidance network. There's a focus on Coral Energy (aka 2RIVERS DMCC and 2RIVERS PTE and Nord Axis) and traders' "special relationship" with Rosneft. nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/pub…

UPDATE FOR REIGATE FOLLOWERS: court appearance on July 7 for Nathan Snowball, accused of fraud and money laundering. Long time followers may remember my 2023 posts about Nathan Snowball, the dodgy Redhill & Reigate painter and decorator who (allegedly) used to take deposits for…

29 years ago today I said "Si" to the Panamanian judge and @realdealneil_ and I were married. (Neil was the Panama-based Latin American correspondent for the ABC back then. Panama was not only where we were married but where I got my start in the maritime sector working as a…