Rome, 25 June 2022 – Phantom Russian tankers who still deliver their loads also to theWestalso atEuropain spite of the sanctions decided against President Vladimir Putin and his invasion ofUkraine. Busy routes that have been documented by the site ‘Organized crime and corruption reporting project‘.
Already the New York Times he had told of a phenomenon that was actually quite widespread at sea, namely of ships making abrupt turnarounds and change destination, all of a sudden, because in the meantime they lost the buyer and look for another. But for maritime experts this is nothing new. Instead, the most current question is another: is it really possible for a ship make yourself invisible?
We asked Gianandrea Gaianieditor of the magazine Defense analysis.
How does a ship make itself invisible?
“A ship can turn off the transponder like an airplane so as not to be located and identified. Because that is a signal that says who you are and where you are.
But to the maritime surveillance systems, that is to the radar, o ai i satelliti, no one can be made invisible. Especially if you are a 350 meter long mega tanker “.
And what does it mean, instead, to change the flag?
“And shipowner may decide to put a ship under a different flag from the state of belonging, for example to have a facilitation of type tax or why maybe the maritime register than that nation imposes fewer taxes. But the reasons can also be other. Many Italian ships when there was the danger of piracy in theIndian Ocean they chose the Maltese flag because that state allowed armed guards to be brought on board. So the reason is always convenience, either for economic reasons or because greater freedom of action is guaranteed “.
Does it also apply to sanctions?
“That certainly becomes a reason too. If your country is sanctioned and the ship flies a different flag, those penalties can no longer be applied to you.”
So how can you frame what is happening?
“Let’s put it this way: the West has imposed sanctions on Russia. But Putin continues to trade with the rest of the world which does not impose them. He has even increased exports, especially energy. To continue doing so, Russia therefore adopts various tricks. . Moscow in the last four months has increased its exports of oil and gas especially to China and India, which are the most voracious hedge markets because they have great industrial potential “.