Invisible export: Russian oil tankers disappear from radar.

Vessels disappear from monitoring systems

The export of Russian oil is complicated by the disappearance of tankers from digital monitoring systems. The volumes of export from Russia have slightly decreased, but tracking them is becoming more difficult as vessels provide false data or completely hide their whereabouts.

Vessel tactics

Ships carrying oil use various tactics to hide their activities during loading. Some automatic positioning signals have disappeared around export terminals, or they show vessels in unrealistic locations.

According to monitoring data, 16 out of 20 tankers that were loading in Primorsk in the first 18 days of May sent signals that showed them in the middle of the largest of the Birch Islands near Primorsk. The nature of the signals is too similar and too frequent to be anything other than a deliberate action.

Indian refineries have announced that they will avoid shipments moved secretly to bypass sanctions, but it is unknown whether they adhere to this approach. Despite such tactics, it is still possible to track overall supplies of Russian oil using satellite imagery and other sources of information.

Analysis

This article reveals the problem of tracking the export of Russian oil due to the complex and crafty actions of ships trying to evade control. With new technologies and observations, it is still possible to monitor the situation and track the flows of oil, but constant improvements and methods to combat the updated tactics of vessels are needed.