Russian oil tankers are reportedly disappearing from tracking systems near Portugal's Azores islands
Several Russian oil tankers have disappeared from tracking systems near Portugal's Azores islands in the past 10 days, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Turning off a vessel's tracking signal — also known as "going dark" or "dark activity" — has been flagged by the US Treasury as one of several practices used to evade sanctions in the maritime industry. By turning off its location data, a ship can obscure its final destination or hide other details about a vessel's movements.
The nine Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean are part of Portugal, about 1,000 miles away from mainland Europe. The EU's ban on Russian oil does not go into effect until December, leaving major oil companies like Shell and BP to largely self-regulate with "moral sanctions," as Insider has previously reported.
While it's unclear exactly why the tankers went dark, the tactic could be used to avoid public backlash for trading with Russia — even if the transaction itself is legal. Additionally, tankers containing Russian oil could be transferring the cargo to non-Russian vessels, as wary buyers try to avoid any affiliation with Moscow.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-oil-tankers-are-reportedly-disappearing-from-tracking-systems-near-portugals-azores-islands-as-dark-activity-skyrockets-amid-ukraine-war/ar-AAYN9sa
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