Russian Oil Keeps Moving. But Who Really Owns the Ships?

The New Backyard | Investigation | 24 October 2026

Every day, oil tankers leave Russian ports carrying cargo worth millions. They pass European coastlines before heading towards customers in Asia and elsewhere.

Some of these ships are under European sanctions. Others are operated by established shipping companies in Greece and insured through European organisations.

Russia continues earning money from oil exports while Europe tries to restrict the revenues that help finance its war against Ukraine.

But behind the ships lies another story.

Who actually owns them? Who receives the money? And how much of this trade still depends on European companies?

An investigation by The New Backyard has followed 13 tankers, examining their movements, ownership, insurance and connections to Russian businesses.

The findings reveal a shipping industry where ownership can move between countries, companies can appear shortly before taking over vessels, and the people controlling the money can be remarkably difficult to identify.

Three Tankers, Three New Companies

Consider three oil tankers: ARABESCA, BIVOLA and VELLAMO.

All three have been placed under European sanctions because of their involvement in Russian oil transport.

Yet their ownership or management records subsequently changed.

For VELLAMO, a company called Zelturion Tradebridge was established in Hong Kong in February 2026. Less than two months later, it was registered as the tanker’s owner and commercial operator.

BIVOLA followed a similar pattern. Its new Hong Kong company, Mydrax Estuary, was established in December 2025 and became the vessel’s registered owner and operator in May 2026.

The third ship, ARABESCA, is associated with Trivos Ballaster, another company established in Hong Kong in late 2025.

The ownership details are not identical in all available registers. But the pattern raises an important question.

Why do companies with little or no publicly documented operating history become responsible for tankers that have already attracted European sanctions?

The answer remains unknown.

The registrations do not prove that the companies share owners or were created to evade sanctions. They do, however, reveal how difficult it is to establish who ultimately controls the vessels.

And when an oil tanker can be worth tens of millions of pounds, identifying the person or business behind the registered owner matters.

A Courtroom in Singapore Opens a Window

One of the most revealing discoveries came not from tracking ships at sea, but from a courtroom in Singapore.

In August 2026, Singapore’s High Court published a judgment concerning VIKRAM, another tanker under European sanctions.

The dispute involved businessmen fighting over control of the vessel.

During the proceedings, its registered owner, Courtwell Asia, acknowledged that VIKRAM had been purchased to transport Russian oil and continued to be used for that purpose.

The company also described a two-year shipping contract and insurance arrangements.

Meanwhile, businessman Aleksandr Prosetskii accused Viktor Baransky and others of arranging transfers through several companies to deprive him of his financial interests in the tanker.

The court examined serious concerns surrounding the transfers but did not settle who ultimately owned the vessel. Prosetskii’s personal claim failed on legal grounds.

The case offered something unusual: a glimpse into the private business disputes behind a sanctioned oil tanker.

The ship had a registered owner. The dispute was about who really controlled its value.

That distinction lies at the heart of this investigation.

European Companies Are Still Part of the Picture

Europe has imposed extensive restrictions on Russian oil trading. Yet shipping remains an international business, and some of the services that keep tankers operating still come from European companies.

Take NEW LEGEND, a tanker that left Russia’s Baltic oil port of Ust-Luga in October with the west coast of India listed as its intended destination.

The ship appears in the official register of Steamship Mutual, an international marine insurance organisation with a European insurance operation.

The registration covers a period running from February 2026 to February 2027.

This kind of insurance is important. If a tanker causes an oil spill, damages a port or becomes involved in a serious accident, potentially enormous claims can follow.

Without acceptable insurance, commercial shipping becomes much more difficult.

Other ships in the investigation are linked to Greek shipping companies and Swedish or British insurance providers.

European involvement does not automatically mean that sanctions have been broken. Certain Russian oil shipments can still lawfully use Western services when the relevant conditions are met.

That is precisely why the details matter.

The crucial questions concern the price paid for the oil, the companies arranging the shipment, the customers receiving it and the insurance conditions covering each voyage.

Who checks these arrangements, and how thoroughly?

A Norwegian Connection to Russia’s Oil Fleet

Another discovery brings the story closer to northern Europe.

THOTH, now associated with Russian shipping operations, once sailed under the name TRANS HOLM and was operated within the Norwegian maritime industry.

Today, the vessel is linked to Kontur SPB, a Russian shipping company that also operates the tanker ODIN.

In June 2026, the European Union imposed sanctions on Kontur SPB.

European authorities cited serious concerns about vessels managed by the company, including inadequate insurance and dangerous shipping practices.

Ukrainian military intelligence has also reported connections between Kontur SPB and contracts involving Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

The original defence contracts have yet to be independently examined.

The Norwegian history of THOTH does not suggest wrongdoing by its former operators. It demonstrates how a ship can move from one commercial system into another, acquiring new ownership and management along the way.

A vessel’s past is often easy to trace.

Its present economic control can be much harder.

From the Baltic Sea to the World

Many of the tankers examined by The New Backyard have passed through Ust-Luga and Primorsk, two important oil export ports near St Petersburg.

From there, ships travel through the Baltic Sea and past the coastlines of European countries.

During October, the investigation recorded vessels reporting destinations in Turkey, India, Singapore, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The routes tell part of the story, but there is an important limitation.

When a tanker reports that it is heading for Singapore, that does not necessarily mean Singapore is where its oil will be sold or unloaded.

Ships can change destinations while at sea. Cargoes can be transferred to other tankers. Buyers and final destinations may remain undisclosed in publicly accessible tracking records.

For some of the vessels, changes in how deeply they sat in the water suggested that oil or other heavy cargo had been loaded or discharged.

But a ship’s position and weight cannot reveal who bought its cargo or how much was paid.

Following the ship is one task. Following the money is another.

Sanctions Have Not Stopped the Trade

Research published by the Kyiv School of Economics shows the scale of the challenge.

Its September 2026 assessment reported that 166 of the 258 tankers involved in Russia’s seaborne oil exports during August belonged to what researchers classified as the shadow fleet.

These vessels operate in a market shaped by sanctions, changing ownership, complex management arrangements and international demand for oil.

For Russia, oil exports remain an important source of state revenue.

For Europe, the dilemma is more complicated.

European governments want to reduce the money flowing into Russia’s war economy. At the same time, international shipping, insurance and energy markets continue to connect European businesses with global oil trade.

The challenge is not simply to identify a Russian oil tanker sailing through European waters.

It is to establish who owns it, who arranged its journey, who insured it, who purchased the oil and whether the transaction complied with sanctions.

Who Gets the Money?

The 13 tankers examined in this investigation are not proven to belong to a single network.

They represent different parts of the same international trade.

Some are controlled through companies in Hong Kong. Others remain connected to Greek shipping businesses or Russian operators. Several have documented relationships with European marine insurers.

The investigation has identified ownership changes, company connections, shipping routes and details from a court dispute. It has not established that these findings amount to sanctions violations.

But one question remains central.

When a sanctioned tanker changes its registered owner, does control of the business really change, or does only the name on the paperwork change?

The answer cannot be found by watching the ship alone.

It lies in company ownership records, shipping contracts, insurance documents and payments that are rarely visible to the public.

And until those records are examined, Europe may know where Russian oil is travelling without knowing enough about the people profiting from its journey.