Recent data reveals that Western insurers are maintaining coverage for Russian oil shipments, with companies such as West, headquartered in Luxembourg, among the providers. The list also includes Norway’s Gard and the American Club. These insurers have covered at least ten vessels transporting Russian oil to Asia in 2024.
Specific examples include the American Club and West, which insured the Gioiosa and the Orion I. These ships, loaded with crude from Rosneft—the Russian state-owned oil company—sailed from the Baltic to China. The American Club confirmed coverage for the Panama-flagged Gioiosa, while West declined to discuss individual vessels. Gard, insuring a separate tanker, also refrained from commenting on particular ships.
The mutual insurers defended their actions, citing obligations to their members and reliance on attestation letters to comply with Western sanctions. They pledged to revoke coverage if discrepancies are found or if oil prices exceed the G7 cap.
In related news, Bloomberg highlighted an incident involving a liquefied natural gas tanker, allegedly falsifying its location while docked at a sanctioned Russian gas facility. The tanker’s insurer is currently listed as “unknown” in the International Maritime Organisation’s database. The vessel’s tracking information indicated it was in the Barents Sea, far from its actual location at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, which is under US sanctions.
