“Sovcomflot” ships massively change their flag country
16.01.2024 - 10:45
Since the beginning of January, about 50 Russian SCF tankers, previously registered in Liberia, have en masse changed their flag to Gabon.
In the first days of 2024, a “phenomenal” increase in the number of ships flying the Gabon flag was recorded. This happened thanks to a large-scale operation to change the flag carried out by the Russian shipping company “Sovcomflot”, writes Splash 24/7.
According to Clarksons Research analysts, the Gabon flag grew by 130.6% last year.
Thus, at the beginning of the year, about 50 Sovcomflot (SCF) tankers were removed from the Liberian registry. As of January 11, about 46 SCF tankers en masse changed their flag to Gabon.
Among the Gabon-flagged vessels was the shadow tanker “Pablo”, which exploded in May 2023 and killed three sailors. The publication emphasized that this was a stark reminder of the risks associated with the shadow tanker fleet.
The latest figures from brokers BRS show that there are a total of 675 tankers in what is known as the shadow fleet. This is 7.4% of the total world tanker fleet.
