Tankers that hauled oil from Russia’s biggest Baltic oil port in August changed hands for more than $1.5bn after the invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the significant profits made by European shipowners from selling ageing vessels that ended up in the shadow fleet.
Of the 60 crude and product tankers loading at Primorsk alone last month, 70% changed hands since February 2022 — one of them three times — as shipowners cashed in on soaring demand for elderly tonnage to keep Russian oil exports moving.
