WSJ Article on Alafouzos’ Okeanis Tankers and the Transport of Russian Crude

An article by the WSJ on the activities of Greek shipowners with Moscow, published on May 30, was revealing, especially its mention of the New York-listed Okeanis Eco Tankers, which is controlled by the Alafouzos family.

According to the article, Okeanis Eco Tankers continues to transport Russian crude despite sanctions. The article, in fact, presents evidence and testimony of people in the shipping sector.

Aristidis Alafouzos’ Okeanis

“The Alafouzos family controls more than a dozen tankers through Okeanis Eco Tankers, which is listed in New York. At the request of its Scandinavian investors, the company stopped handling Russian oil in 2023, soon after the sanctions took effect,” according to the WSJ article.

Further down the article mentions “… But the family (Alafouzos) kept moving Russian petroleum with tankers it owns privately. Mostly named after islands in the Cyclades, the ships have picked up Russian crude nine times this year, according to the shipping data.”

The reporters behind the article subsequently noted that “…in all, Alafouzos-controlled vessels have called at Russian ports about 140 times since the war started, the data show. Several dozen of the trips were to transport Kazakh crude exported from Russia’s Black Sea coast.”

The article, which refers to other Greek owners of tankers returning to Russian ports, such as Andreas Martinos and George Prokopiou, makes special mention of Ioannis Alafouzos, saying he is “a prominent figure in Greece…” where he owns the football club, a newspaper and television station. Another reference is made of Alafouzos’ son, Aristidis, who is Okeanis’s chief executive.

Responsibility for the sector

The specific activity of the Alafouzos-run shipping company came to light in a well-documented report by the online edition of “To Vima”, without, however, generating a reaction, especially by the Greek state. It’s noteworthy that as an EU member-state, Greece has a particular responsibility to ensure that its domestic shipping industry complies with international sanctions.

Failing to do so, however, risks undermining the effectiveness of Western sanctions and allowing continued the flow of revenue to finance Russia’s war in Ukraine. The sanctions were originally enacted as a tool to put economic pressure on Russia to stop its aggression against Ukraine.

Russia’s Role

However, given Russia’s pivotal role in global energy markets, complete bans could cause serious disruptions. Moreover, significant non-Western countries, such as China, have refused to impose sanctions, thus mitigating their impact.

To counter this development, Western countries have introduced price caps for Russian oil traded via third countries, which were imposed through strict documentation. Despite these provisions, inconsistencies in the framework governing sanctions allowed for significant loopholes and “grey areas”.

At the same time, Western authorities appear to have overlook such ambiguities, allowing certain shipping companies to profit from the transport of oil – at times meeting and other times exceeding the imposed price cap – while at the same time engaging in practices that facilitate the circumvention of sanctions.