Bloomberg exposes shadow fleet of Russian oil tankers

At least two India and UAE companies are helping Russia circumvent oil sanctions, imposed by Western democracies, through a shadow fleet of tankers.

That’s according to Bloomberg, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

It is noted that the Dubai-registered Fractal and Gatik, Mumbai, own a total of $2 billion worth of oil tankers. The article says in less than a year, they assembled a fleet now delivering millions of barrels of Russian oil around the world.

It is noteworthy that the offices of both companies are registered in abandoned buildings, while their websites are either non-existent or irrelevant.

Practically all tankers operated by Gatik and Fractal this year checked into Russian ports or received cargo from Russia through ship-to-ship transfer.

The first tanker was jointly purchased by the two companies in June 2022, while the last purchase was made in February this year. The Gatik fleet can transport about 30 million barrels of oil and fuel, while Fractal’s capacity is about 15 million barrels, Bloomberg claims.

As reported earlier, neither India nor the UAE joined the international sanctions against the Russian oil and gas sector.