publication time: 07/12/2022 – 19:30
Turkey confirmed on December 7 that Ankara had started requiring proof of insurance on tankers carrying Russian crude after Western powers imposed price caps on Russian crude to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine, but officials denied it was slowing tanker traffic.
The European Union and the Group of Seven industrialized nations agreed last week to ban Western insurers from covering tankers carrying Russian crude that sells for more than $60 a barrel. The sanctions are aimed at depriving Russia of one of its main sources of income, and Australia is joining the effort.
According to tanker industry tracking website TankerTracker.com on the morning of the 7th, the volume of Russian seaborne crude oil exports has halved in the past 48 hours.
A source told AFP that Turkish officials have been requiring proof of insurance from tankers sailing from Russia to global markets via the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles since the beginning of this month.
An official source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Turkish authorities were doing so “to ensure that (tankers) were insured” as Western insurers had started to cancel coverage.
An unnamed Turkish official told state news agency Anadolu that “most international insurance companies” no longer cover Russian crude oil, and “if an accident happens in this strait, whoever is responsible could be billions of dollars worth of” losses? Who is responsible”?
However, the official denied Western media reports suggesting that the new Turkish rules had caused tankers to jam up the two straits. The official said there had been no “significant” change in sea traffic and that Ankara could do more to “prevent congestion”.
