Business Insider
Several Russian tankers reportedly turned off their tracking systems 33 times last week, a practice the US says could be used to evade sanctions
Hannah Towey
Sun, March 27, 2022, 12:34 p.m.�2 min read
Russian tanker ships turned off their tracking systems 33 times last week, Bloomberg reported.
The US Treasury has flagged the "deceptive" maritime tactic as a way to evade sanctions.
Nine superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs also went dark last week.
Russian tanker ships switched off their tracking systems at least 33 times last week, according to location data provided to Bloomberg by Windward, a maritime risk consultancy. That's double the normal weekly rate, the firm said.
This tactic known as "going dark," or "dark activity" has been flagged by the US Treasury as one of several "deceptive practices used to evade sanctions" in the maritime industry.
The data from Windward also shows that ship-to-ship meetings are taking place that could be long enough to transfer cargo to vessels without sanctions, though the frequency of those meetings is still at a normal level.
Windward also said last week that 22 unique vessels have entered Russian waters for the first time in the weeks following the invasion of Ukraine.
The news follows reports that nine superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs and tycoons � several of whom were sanctioned � similarly turned off their tracking signals last week.
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