A fleet of tankers that came out of nowhere to keep Russia’s oil moving has disbanded even faster than it came, highlighting the challenges of keeping track of who is helping Moscow deliver its oil to buyers around the world.
Mumbai-based Gatik Ship Management now has a fleet of just four tankers, according to Equasis, an international maritime database created to promote safe shipping. As of April, he had 42, having amassed the majority of those carriers in less than a year.
A contact number for Gatik through the Equasis database did not work, and a message to an email address provided for the company was not immediately returned.
Gatik came under scrutiny earlier this year as its rapidly expanding fleet, much of which was moving Russian barrels, raised questions about who might back the company.
Part of Gatik’s fleet then lost access to industry-standard insurance after breaching the Group of Seven price cap related to the transport of Russian oil. Soon after, some of the company’s ships also lost their classification with Lloyd’s Register, another key service that validates basic technical standards for ships.
It is difficult to be clear what has really become of the fleet. Vessels no longer under Gatik’s commercial management continue to handle Russian oil. They are now under the control of a wide range of companies whose ownership structure is also unclear.
TradeWinds previously reported the fact that Gatik’s fleet was so suddenly reduced.
