The Liberia Register, which oversees the issuance of authorization for ships to enter ports under the Liberian flag, has revoked Ingosstrakh Insurance Company’s authorization to issue blue cards. The blue cards are essential for ships to call at ports as they provide insurance against risks like oil spills and sea collisions.
Liberia has granted a 90-day grace period for Liberian-flagged vessels with blue cards issued by Ingosstrakh to continue operations. However, according to an International Maritime Organization database cited by Bloomberg, only three ships insured by Ingosstrakh are flying the Liberian flag, and none are oil tankers.
Ingosstrakh was sanctioned by the UK last week along with vessels from the “shadow fleet” and six companies operating in the Russian LNG sector. The West is working to limit the activities of the shadow fleet transporting Russian oil.
Denmark and other Baltic Sea countries, along with EU allies, are exploring ways to restrict the volume of Russian oil transported by the dark fleet in the Baltic Sea and Danish straits. Denmark worries that the old and uninsured tankers in the dark fleet could cause an environmental disaster in its waters through which Russian oil passes en route to the Atlantic.
