Albanian port authorities refused entry to the tanker Hanuman after the vessel was identified by Ukrainian military intelligence as part of a “shadow fleet” transporting Russian petroleum products.
A Sierra Leone-flagged tanker was barred on Thursday from anchoring in the roadstead of the Port of Durres after Albanian authorities identified it as part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”.
Taulant Allkja, Captain of the Port of Durres, told BIRN that the Hanuman, IMO number 9295048, had been identified by Ukraine’s military intelligence service, GUR, and partner services as part of the “shadow fleet” – a network of vessels linked to the transport of Russian oil under Western sanctions.
According to Allkja, the Port Authority notified the vessel of the ban while it was about 12 miles from Durres, preventing it from entering the port’s roadstead.
“The vessel received the notification from the Port Authority yesterday while it was 12 miles from Durres and is now continuing its voyage in the Adriatic Sea,” Allkja told BIRN.
Data published by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, GUR, and updated on June 10, 2026, identifies the Hanuman as being involved in transporting Russian petroleum products to third countries under the G7 and European Union oil embargo and price-cap regime.
Allkja said that, according to the Ukrainian intelligence service, in September 2025 the Hanuman transported more than 30,000 tonnes of Russian petroleum products from the port of Novorossiysk to Turkey.
GUR says the tanker has also called at the Sheskharis terminal in Novorossiysk, an important hub for Russian oil exports and the endpoint of pipelines operated by Chernomortransneft, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned oil pipeline operator Transneft.
The so-called “shadow fleet” comprises a network of tankers used by Russia to keep its oil exports flowing following the imposition of Western sanctions over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Such vessels often operate under third-country flags and through opaque ownership structures that can be difficult to trace.
The G7 countries and the European Union introduced a price cap on seaborne Russian oil in late 2022, alongside restrictions on insurance, financing and other maritime services related to its transportation.
Albania, an EU candidate country and NATO member, has aligned itself with European Union sanctions against Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Maritime traffic data shows that the Hanuman had previously called at the Port of Durres in November 2025.
A BIRN investigation published in May 2026 identified the tanker among a list of vessels suspected of involvement in the illicit trade of Russian oil or grain stolen from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories that had called at Albanian ports since 2022, raising questions about the enforcement of sanctions imposed by the Albanian government against Moscow. || BIRN
