A trio of Turkish-owned bulkers and the ownership interests behind them were caught in a deluge of US sanctions announced on Monday.
Included in the nearly 150 entities blacklisted by the US Treasury Department were 19 ships, most of them smaller, Russia-flagged general cargo ships save three backed by Istanbul-based Artvin Denizcilik ve Ticaret: the 38,464-dwt Alara (built 2015), the 37,718-dwt Ipsala (built 2016) and the 38,595-dwt Ula (built 2021).
“As the Kremlin seeks ways around the expansive multilateral sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia for its war against Ukraine, the United States and our allies and partners will continue to disrupt evasion schemes that support Putin on the battlefield,” said the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism Brian Nelson.
The sanctions package largely focused on cracking down on Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s financial interests abroad, including a Cayman Island-based company called Navis Marine Ltd whose ties to the shipping industry are unclear.
The sanctions against Artvin and its fleet were levied due to alleged connections to Pola Raiz, a St Petersburg-based shipowner sometimes spelt Pola Rise. It was sanctioned in February for involvement in Russian trades with Turkey and facilitating shipments to Arctic construction sites.
All three ships were owned and operated by Pola Rise from July 2022 until October 2022, when they were re-flagged in Turkey. After that, Artvin took ownership and commercial management duties and Salda Management Denizcilik became the technical manager.
Salda Management, which manages 12 other ships, was also sanctioned.
The Alara was known as the Pola Monaco before the sale, while the Ipsala was the Pola Imabari and the Ula the Pola Ariake.
Artvin has been approached for comment after the close of business in Turkey.
Of the remaining ships sanctioned, 11 are general cargo ships and three are product tankers with one ro-ro and one ropax vessel.
None are larger than 10,000 dwt and all are flagged in Russia.
All 16 list JSC GTLK, also known as JSC State Transport Leasing Co, as their registered owner. That company was sanctioned in April 2022.
Also sanctioned was former Russian transportation minister Yevgeniy Ditrikh for his connections to JSC GTLK.
