The Greek shipping owners who are using Malta as a base to trade in Russian oil have sent a letter to this website saying that they are doing Malta a favour for using the Maltese-flag.
These are the Greek shippers who own the Eurosailor and the Eurotrader. The Eurotrader has just sold Russian oil in Brazil after loading it from Saint Petersburg, Russia.
This is their right of reply.
Dear Mr Camillery
We write on behalf of the Owners of mentioned vessels and we refer to
the article “The Malta based Eurotrader is selling oil in Brazil after
buying it from Saint Petersburg, Russia” which was brought to our
attention by our agent, Mr Maistre. Please note the following:
There are numerous misconceptions and inaccuracies in the article which
provide a misleading impression.
The first fundamental inaccuracy is that the article states that “The
Eurotrader is currently in the process of selling oil in Brazil after
having purchased it from Saint Petersburg”. It has to be made clear that
the Owners of the vessel, its operators and/or mentioned directors do
not and have not bought or sold Russian oil from/to anyone and, in fact,
they are not involved in the sale or purchase or payment of this cargo
or of any cargo whatsoever. They have not transacted or interacted with
any party for buying or selling cargo. This is a common misconception,
to confuse the act of transportation of the cargo with the sale of the
cargo.
The mentioned vessels have been chartered to third parties (charterers)
for transportation of oil cargoes. The owners had undergone a vigorous
due diligence process when the agreement was entered into to make sure
that the counterparts charterers are not sanctioned or involved in any
sanctions list. The agreement under which the cargo is carried has also
undergone vigorous sanctions checks and due diligence process. This
process had been carried out in cooperation with qualified professionals
who have substantial relevant experience and detailed knowledge of the
regulations. In any case, the framework under which the maritime sector
is working, involving bankers, insurers, suppliers etc does not allow
deviations from this practice.
The second very fundamental inaccuracy in this article, which is also
encountered amongst persons who are not conversant with sanctions regime
is the outright belief that all cargoes loaded in Russia fall foul under
the sanctions regime. It has to be made very clear that the EU
Regulations allow transportation of oil from Russian ports under various
conditions, the most prominent being that the underlying price of the
cargo does not exceed a certain price, the so called “price cap” regime,
which is part of the due diligence process mentioned above. It has also
to be mentioned that, as you may reckon, the above allowances by the EU
Regulations have not been granted lightheartedly: the cargoes involved
(oil products such as Diesel and Gasoline) are much needed by local
populations and by the local economies to avoid price imbalances which
would have resulted in social issues, friction and unrest, as the
European Union has mentioned in relevant guidelines.
In view of the above, it has to be made clear that the mentioned vessels
(Eurotrader and Eurosailor) and persons are not involved in any
sanctioned activity and it is totally unfortunate that the mentioned
article taints the straightforward reality in the way it did. It even
more unfortunate if it is considered that mentioned Owners, persons and
companies have strongly supported the Maltese Flag and Maltese Registry
for a period of more than forty years entrusting their vessels to the
Maltese Registry.
Kind Regards
Konstantinos Sakellaridis, LLM
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
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