Why do the UK’s sanctions on companies trading with Russia pass Greek ships over?
It is worth noting that the British administration, which recently announced that it will sanction Turkish, UAE and Swiss companies on the grounds that the ships of countries trading with Russia are “Russia’s ghost fleet”, does not include Greek companies in the sanctions list.
Following the announcement of the UK sanctions, the US Treasury Department sent notices to 100 companies requesting documents. Yet are there any Greek shipowners among these companies?
The fact that the Istanbul-based Turkish shipowner Beks Shipping, which states that all commercial relations are in accordance with the law, was heavily sanctioned without any explanation, while the Vula-based Greek shipowner Minerva Shipping, which continues to trade with Russia, was not subjected to any sanctions, shows that the British government is playing a double game.
In November 2023, the U.S. sent notices to Greek companies, and after the notices, all Greek fleets were informed that they had withdrawn from Russian waters. However, tankers of Greek companies are still operating in Russian territorial waters.
This raises the possibility that Turkish shipowners are being pushed out of the game in order for Greece to get a bigger piece of the pie.
Ankara is expected to urgently resolve this bilateral attitude that puts Turkish shipowners in a difficult situation, as these two Turkish shipping companies account for approximately “10 percent” of Turkish-owned ships and 40 percent of Turkish-owned tankers in the Turkish merchant fleet. With their ship investments, they also stand out as two emerging companies in the world merchant fleet.
