Photographer: Merkushev Aleksandr/MarineTraffic
Russia’s Oil Fleet and the Floating Armories That Help Keep Profits Flowing
The UK has spent more than a year trying to get hundreds of guns moved from floating armories that are helping Russia profit enormously from its oil trade despite widespread sanctions
Somewhere off the coast of Eritrea on July 20th last year, the Vernadsky Prospect — stocked with 730,000 barrels of Russian crude — started broadcasting a message: “Armed guard on board.”
The 250-meter long tanker had just passed through the Suez Canal, midway through its 7,400 nautical mile journey from the Russian port of Primorsk to India, one of the few major economies that continues to buy Russian oil following its invasion of Ukraine.