Russian shadow fleet vessel adrift in Mediterranean Sea, Bloomberg reports
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An oil tanker sanctioned for transporting Russian oil appeared to be adrift in the Mediterranean Sea following a possible mechanical failure, Bloomberg reported Jan. 23
The ship, an LR2-class tanker named Progress, was sailing along the North African coast near Algeria with a destination of the Suez Canal when it passed Algiers early on Jan. 21 and then quickly turned north, leaving the shipping lane. The ship was reportedly carrying about 730,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude.
As of early Jan. 22, the tanker changed its navigation status to "not under command," and its speed dropped to one knot. Tracking data cited by Bloomberg showed the ship continuing to drift slowly eastward at a speed of one knot the following day.
The move out of shipping lanes, the change in navigation status, and the drop in speed indicated a potential mechanical issue, Bloomberg said.
The 19-year-old tanker is under Western sanctions for its involvement in the Russian oil trade, a key source of revenue for the Kremlin's continued war in Ukraine. Since being sanctioned, the ship has changed its name twice, recently switched its flag to Russia, and was added to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping this past November.
According to open source shipping data, the Progress is registered under Legacy Marine LLC, based in St. Petersburg, Russia. The business did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.
Western governments have stepped up scrutiny of Russia's so-called shadow fleet — a network of aging tankers often operating under opaque ownership structures or false flags — which Moscow has used to circumvent Western sanctions on its oil exports.
In recent weeks, countries including France, Germany, and Italy have taken action against sanctioned Russian-linked vessels operating in or transiting their territorial waters.
