Russian shipping company blames sanctions for reduced safety at sea
A Russian shipping company says sanctions imposed by international powers are undermining safety at sea and pose dangers for trade.
Chief executive of Russian shipping group Sovcomflot said on Tuesday that big powers like the United States and European Union are putting maritime safety at risk for their “short-term geopolitical motivations”.
Igor Tonkovidov said that the sanctioning states and bodies have separated “the world’s trade fleet into antagonistic camps” and have destroyed “the safety culture and values gained by maritime industry over the past decades”.
“Sovcomflot is genuinely disappointed that high-quality safe maritime transportation is sacrificed for short-term geopolitical motivations, which certainly does not contribute to improving the safety of maritime transportation, especially in European waters,” he said.
The comments, which was first reported by shipping publication Tradewinds and then by the Reuters news agency, came after the EU imposed sanctions on Tonkovidov and the Sovcomflot, which is Russia’s state-owned and top tanker company.
In sanctions announced earlier this year, the US Treasury Department had also blacklisted 14 crude oil tankers owned by or linked to Sovcomflot.
Washington and its allies in European capitals have imposed sanctions on oil-rich countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela to restrict their ability to transfer oil and petroleum products.
The bans have caused international service companies such as ship engine makers and safety certifiers to leave the market, creating more safety challenges for maritime transportation.
That has prompted global shipping industry officials to warn about the consequences of sanctions on hundreds of ageing tankers transporting oil from countries hit by the sanctions.
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