Russian tankers still make direct trips to EU ports

Russian tankers with Russian oil are still making direct flights to the ports of the European Union.

This was reported by the head of the Monitoring Group of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies, Andriy Klymenko.

“In the 4th year of the Great War in Europe, we still have direct flights of tankers with Russian crude oil to the ports of the EU countries in violation of the embargo of 05.12.2022,” he wrote.

According to Klymenko, this may indicate either a lack of control, or forgery of documents, or other factors.

Thus, in April 2025, the Monitoring Group recorded 10 direct flights of crude oil tankers from Russian ports of the Baltic, Black and Kara Seas to the ports of the EU countries.

The vessels delivered 1.2 million tons of Russian oil to the EU ports. In particular, two tankers made direct voyages directly from Russian ports in the Baltic Sea to the ports of the Netherlands and Italy:

VILAMOURA (IMO 9529293) under the flag of the Marshall Islands, deadweight 158,621 tons, built in 2011. The vessel departed from the port of Ust-Luga (Russia) on April 8 and arrived at the port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) on April 17. The registered owner of the vessel is XIANG H44 INTERNATIONAL SHIP C/O: TMS Tankers Ltd.

DALI (IMO 9787936) under the flag of the Cayman Islands, deadweight 115,281 tons, built in 2018. The tanker departed from the port of Ust-Luga on April 28 and arrived in Milazzo (Italy) on May 13. The registered owner of the vessel is CHARLOTTE OWNERS INC C/O: TMS Tankers Ltd.

USM previously reported that the number of tankers from Russia choosing the route around Africa has increased.