DANWATCH: RUSSIAN OIL TANKERS USED FAKE CERTIFICATES TO CROSS THE BALTIC

Danwatch and NRK journalists have identified at least 76 tankers from the Russian “shadow fleet”.

Ships belonging to the Russian “shadow fleet” were able to move freely in the waters of NATO countries in the Baltic Sea, using fake insurance documents to do so, a joint investigation by Danwatch and NRK has found. According to independent organizations, at least 76 tankers took advantage of this scheme with fictitious certificates.

The documentation was processed through the company Ro Marine, registered as Norwegian, but in reality controlled by a Russian citizen. Journalists have established that the company did not carry out any financial transactions and that its staff included only one employee, an anonymous member of the board of directors with a Bulgarian passport. In addition, the owner of the organization, Andrey Mochalin, 41, previously worked in the Norwegian insurance industry, but now lives in St. Petersburg.

The certificates were issued on the basis of a license allegedly obtained in 2016 from the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA). But the check turned out to be a fake: on the indicated date, Ro Marine did not yet exist. The company also published in the registers the address of the headquarters of the Norwegian Shipowners Association in Oslo, whose representatives repeatedly requested that the false information be corrected, but there was no response from Ro Marine.

In March, Norwegian law enforcement authorities launched an investigation into a possible violation of the sanctions regime. Charges were brought against Mochalin, an anonymous Bulgarian representative, and two other Norwegian businessmen who cooperated with the company. Information about the arrest of the suspects was not disclosed.

The latest sanctions against the Russian oil industry were introduced by former US President Biden on January 10 this year. They affected two major Russian oil companies and more than 180 tankers. However, Russian oil exports have not decreased during this period and, as Bloomberg wrote, had even increased in early March compared to four months earlier. Oil exports from Russia to Asian countries increased, and in most cases tankers left without specifying their final destination. Although the new US leadership refused to create a group within the G7 to monitor Russia's "shadow fleet".