Overview
- The Council of the European Union added 41 vessels to its sanctions list on December 18, imposing EU port bans and curbs on a wide range of maritime services.
- The action brings the total to nearly 600 sanctioned ships, which the EU sanctions envoy estimates covers roughly three quarters of Russia’s shadow fleet.
- Listed vessels include tankers suspected of skirting the oil price cap or backing Russia’s energy sector, as well as ships tied to military transport, stolen Ukrainian grain or cultural property.
- EU officials say vessel designations will now be updated more regularly rather than bundled into infrequent packages to disrupt circumvention more quickly.
- New EU rules barring imports of products containing any Russian crude are already reshaping refinery purchases, with Reliance halting Russian crude at Jamnagar, while the IEA reports Russia’s November export revenues at their lowest since the invasion and EU leaders weigh using €140 billion in frozen assets for Ukraine.