20% of Cyprus’ vessels change registration after EU sanctions on Russia - Xinhua

Cypriot Shipping Deputy Minister Vasilis Demetriades told state-run CyBC radio that Cyprus has lost 20% of its oil tanker tonnage because of EU sanctions on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil, according to reports by Chinese official news agency Xinhua.

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Xinhua news agency reported, citing Cypriot state-run radio CyBC that Demetriades said “since the EU announced its intention to impose a ban on seaborne Russian oil on 6 October, tankers of 900,000 gross tonnages (GT), or 20% of Cyprus's tanker tonnage, have been struck off the country's registry.”

Xinhua further reported that Greece and Malta, which have large shipping registries, are likely to “have suffered even greater losses.”

Demetriades was quoted as saying, "We have asked the European Commission to adopt compensatory measures to offset the losses to all shipping countries caused by the punitive measures imposed on Russia in response to its military operations against Ukraine.”

Cyprus is preparing specific compensation proposals and will submit them by the end of January, Xinhua reported, citing Demetriades.

The EU sanctions on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil took effect 5 December, while sanctions on petroleum products will take effect on 5 February. Also, the G7 nations, the EU and Australia also set a floating price cap on Russian seaborne crude imports at $60/bbl.

By Konica Bhatt

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