Latest news with #Russian-affiliated
RTÉ News
24-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Data flags hundreds of Russian 'shadow fleet' visits to Irish EEZ
Some 245 so-called 'shadow fleet' vessels passed through Ireland's maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) more than 450 times in the first seven months of this year, according to data obtained by RTÉ. Several countries under international sanctions operate "shadow fleets". Most of the vessels, many of which analysts say are poorly maintained and lack proper insurance, are Russian-affiliated and used to help Russia export oil and circumvent oil price caps imposed as part of western sanctions. Seventy two vessels which have been directly named on sanctions lists transited through the Irish EEZ in the time period, which covers 1 January to 23 July. Experts have warned that their continued movement through Irish waters poses a serious environmental risk and undermines international efforts to isolate Russia's energy sector which is used to fund the country's war in Ukraine. Ireland's maritime EEZ extends roughly 370km off the west coast and is the site of major international shipping routes and multiple globally-important undersea cables. Countries are obligated under the UN Law of the Sea to monitor activities within their EEZ, prevent illegal activity, and control pollution. Vessels suspected of being part of the Russian shadow fleet often use deceptive practices, including falsifying paperwork, to try to obscure the origin, destination and selling price of Russian oil on board. They have been linked to damage caused to undersea cables in recent months, in particular in the Baltic Sea. Shadow fleet vessels have also conducted activities considered risky at sea, including turning off location transponders and conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers. The figures for activity in the Irish EEZ were provided by maritime intelligence company Windward, which uses satellite imagery and AI technology to spot and monitor ships, including those which turn their transponders off. A specific break down of the data on visits to the Irish EEZ during the first five months of the year was also provided by Windward. It showed that 40 of the 162 vessels which entered the Irish EEZ during that time frame were directly sanctioned with clear Russian affiliation. Five of those were sailing under the Russian flag, while six were beneficially-owned by Russian companies. Most of the others were flying under what are known as "flags of convenience," meaning they were registered in countries with minimal oversight. These can be used to disguise ownership and thereby avoid scrutiny and evade sanctions. Windward links the others to the shadow fleet through research and analysis of maritime activities. The top five "flags of convenience" on shadow fleet vessels travelling through the Irish EEZ were from the Marshall Islands, Liberia, Malta, Comoros and Panama. Asked about its monitoring of shadow fleet activity within the Irish EEZ, the Defence Forces said, "while it is our policy not to comment on specific operational matters, all relevant information gathered in support of Maritime Domain Awareness is shared in a timely manner with the appropriate national and international authorities." "The Defence Forces, through the deployment of Naval Service and Air Corps assets, maintains a continuous presence and vigilance within Ireland's maritime domain. We monitor all activity within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as part of our routine operations to ensure the security and integrity of our waters." Irish Coast Guard data released Separately, data from the Irish Coast Guard released under the Freedom of Information Act and analysed by RTÉ,shows that the service also picked up signals from four western sanctioned Russian registered vessels in Irish EEZ waters since the turn of the year. RTÉ used vessel tracking website to trace the activities of these vessels around the time they were referenced in the Coast Guard data. The Valentin Pikul carried out three ship-to-ship transfers with a Russian bunkering vessel in Murmansk in northwestern Russia between 30 March and 10 April, one week after it passed through Irish EEZ waters on 23 and 24 March. The European Union-sanctioned Russian vessel Bratsk sailed through the Irish EEZ on 26 and 27 April, turning off its location transponder as it proceeded north off the Donegal coast. The Russian-flagged crude oil tanker Belgorod transmitted intermittent location data as it travelled through Ireland's EEZ on 6 and 7 May, two months after EU sanctions on the vessel were announced. The Primoyre passed the Irish coast twice between 13 April and 2 May, going 'dark' to location tracking services for periods while off the coast of Clare and later Donegal. Tony Cudmore, a retired Brigadier General with the Irish Defence Forces, said "an awful lot of this activity is intended to provoke and possibly to call into question the State's authority." "The danger is that a perception is being created that the State's authority in this area is being diminished," he added. He warned that there is also a significant environmental risk linked to the oil tankers, and that the clean-up cost would likely have to be borne by Ireland in the event of an oil spill while a vessel was uninsured. "These ships are like having vehicles travelling on your roads which have no NCT. They have no insurance. They probably have not been serviced correctly. It's quite possible that even their drivers, their masters, may not have professional competence," he said. As of May 2025, vessels transiting through EU EEZ waters, including Ireland, are required to provide proof of valid insurance even if they do not enter an EU port. CEO and co-founder of Windward, Ami Daniel, said some countries have recently started to take enforcement actions, and Ireland could follow their lead. "In the last month or two we are seeing the UK and the EU take a voluntary approach of questioning vessels who are transiting, on the radio - asking for their insurance coverage and other safety parameters," Mr Daniel said. In January, German authorities confiscated an oil tanker believed to be part of the Russian shadow fleet off the country's Baltic Sea coast. The Panama-flagged vessel, the Eventin, had been on its way from Russia to Egypt with a cargo of around 100,000 metric tons of oil, worth some €40 million. Ami Daniel believes Ireland could take other steps to challenge vessels operating without insurance or valid maintenance records. "It's not just enforcement at sea. It's enforcement on the flags [of convenience] and what they do with the flag states," Mr Daniel said. "The Irish Government can absolutely reach out to them and send them letters. For instance, are they allowing them to do ship-to-ship transfers and get fuel or other provisions while out there?" he added. The Department of Transport told RTÉ that the Irish Coast Guard, through its responsibility for search and rescue, maritime casualty and pollution response, actively monitors traffic in Irish waters and recognises the "risk that some of these vessels pose." "These risks include the increased possibility of a maritime casualty and search and rescue incidents from such vessels. For this reason, the Coast Guard has instituted specific measures to monitor the presence of these vessels and passage through and out of Irish EEZ" it said in a statement. Sanctions impact Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU, UK and the US have imposed restrictions on Russia's energy sector, aiming to weaken its economy and limit its ability to fund the war. As part of that, specific ships have been banned from EU territorial waters, denied insurance, and prevented from accessing certain maritime services as well as all European ports and territorial waters. Last week the EU announced its 18th sanctions package against Russia which includes an additional 105 vessels being banned from accessing EU ports and locks, or undertaking ship-to-ship transfers of oil. The UK also placed sanctions on 135 oil tankers in Russia's "shadow fleet" this week. In total, the EU has now imposed sanctions on more than 400 shadow fleet ships. All European ports are also effectively barred from temporarily storing, handling, or processing Russian crude oil and petroleum products, with limited exceptions. However, even with the sanctions, income generated by Russia's exports have remained stable. The federation exported 7.8million barrels of oil per day in 2021, a figure that had dipped only slightly three years later to 7.5million barrels per day, as it successfully redirected supplies to countries like China and India, according to the International Energy Agency. John O'Brennan, Professor of European Politics at Maynooth University, attributes that at least in part to the activity of the shadow fleet, and says that individual European countries could do more to step up enforcement at a national level. "Some national authorities within the EU have been less than vigilant about upholding those sanctions. That gap is one that Russia has been successfully able to exploit over the last couple of years," Prof O'Brennan added. Prof O'Brennan noted some Greek shipping owners have been prominent in selling their old vessels on to Russia to repurpose, rather than spending money on scrapping them.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Trading App Just Minted Billions -- EToro IPO Pops 42% on Day One
EToro (NASDAQ:ETOR) just kicked the IPO market back into gear. Shares of the retail trading platform surged as much as 42% in its first day of trading, following an upsized $620 million offering that priced well above expectations at $52 per share. By midday Wednesday, the stock was trading around $72, pushing EToro's market cap close to $6 billion and nearly $7 billion on a fully diluted basis. Demand was hot. The offering was reportedly over 20x subscribed, and the company boosted the size from 10 million to nearly 12 million shares to meet investor appetite. This wasn't a quiet entry. Heavyweights including BlackRock signaled interest in scooping up $100 million worth of shares at the IPO price, according to filings. The deal was led by Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, UBS, and Citigroup another sign that institutional players are getting behind this new crop of tech-forward public debuts. EToro, founded in 2007, lets users trade stocks, crypto, and mimic top investors on its social-investing platform. The company had previously aimed to go public via SPAC at a $10.4 billion valuation but hit pause. It's now re-emerging into a market that's slowly thawing after tariff-driven IPO delays earlier this year. EToro's 2024 numbers gave investors more than just momentum to chase. The company reported $787 million in net contribution and $192 million in net income a massive jump from just $15.3 million in profits the year before. The listing isn't without caveats. Sanctions are currently blocking Russian-affiliated SBT Venture Fund from exercising voting rights or receiving shares. Still, the blowout debut could mark a shift: retail trading, fintech, and IPOs might all be staging a comeback and EToro is leading that charge. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Russia Today
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
‘Russophobia' behind Romania's expulsion of RT reporter – Tara Reade (VIDEO)
The recent detention and deportation of RT correspondent Chay Bowes from Romania highlights growing 'Russophobia' in the West, particularly in Western media, according to Tara Reade, an RT contributor and a former US Senate aide. The incident 'says volumes' about Romania's upcoming presidential election, Reade claimed, and questioned why the country would prevent international observers from attending. Bowes, an Irish journalist and EU citizen, was detained on Thursday after arriving in Bucharest to cover the election re-run, but was later deported to Istanbul. According to Bowes, Romanian authorities labeled him 'a security threat' – a notion Reade said she finds alarming. 'I'm shocked that they have detained him… what does Romania have to hide? It makes you wonder, what is going on,' Reade said, speaking to RT on air following the news of Bowes' detention. She tied the move to what she described as 'Russophobia' and efforts by Western governments to suppress Russian-affiliated voices. 'Russophobia has now spread so much to Western media, and has fueled this fear of any kind of journalist that might even work for [Russia]… It's seeped through to every fabric of international conversations… it's ridiculous, the Russophobia,' she said, calling the trend 'really concerning, because we are living in a multipolar world and there's no room for Russophobia anymore.' Romania's presidential election re-run was ordered after last year's results were annulled over alleged violations. NATO critic Calin Georgescu won the first round, but the Constitutional Court invalidated the result, citing campaign irregularities and accusations of Russian interference – claims Moscow has denied. It later emerged that the controversial campaign in question had been funded not by Moscow, but by Romania's pro-EU National Liberal Party, which was reportedly targeting a rival but inadvertently boosted Georgescu instead. The re-run is set for May 4 and May 18.
Toronto Star
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
‘It's not right': Merch associated with Russian mercenary group listed for sale on Walmart Canada Marketplace website
Ukrainian Canadians are frustrated after finding merch items with the logo of a Russian-affiliated private military group up for sale on the Walmart Canada Marketplace website. Iryna Chabanenko, a Ukrainian immigrant living in Winnipeg, came across the listings for a Wagner Group-branded flag and t-shirt from a post in a Facebook group for Ukrainian Canadians in that city. Many in the comments under the post were complaining about the fact these items were up for sale on a website associated with a major Canadian retailer, Chabanenko recounted to the Star.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump extends US sanctions on Russian ships for another year
U.S. President Donald Trump has extended sanctions on Russian and Russian-affiliated vessels, according to a U.S. Federal Register document released on April 15 and scheduled for publication on April 17. Trump has with both Ukraine and Russia as U.S.-led ceasefire negotiations drag on, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on April 11. Trump earlier signed an executive order extending sanctions against Russia for one year, originally imposed by former U.S. President Joe Biden in April 2021. "I am continuing for one year the national emergency with respect to the Russian Federation and the emergency authority relating to the regulation of the anchorage and movement of Russian-affiliated vessels to United States ports," the document . On April 9, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators to heighten the enforcement of sanctions against Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, seeking to crack down on oil revenues that fund Russia's war against Ukraine. "Russia is continuing its malign actions by operating a 'ghost fleet' to evade U.S. sanctions, enrich its own war machine, and even aid Iranian oil smuggling," one of the sponsors of the bill, Republican Senator Joni Ernst, said. On April 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a targeting Russia's 'shadow fleet." The "shadow fleet" aims to circumvent sanctions imposed against Russia and continue flows of oil revenue to Moscow. "(The sanctions) target, in particular, the shadow tanker fleet that uses to finance the war; war propagandists — those who are trying to undermine our defense and help Russia; and also certain officials — these are names well known to all Ukrainians — who used to have influence," Zelensky said. Read also: Trump's Ukraine peace push is really about business — and Putin knows it We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
