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\u2019s so-called \u201cshadow fleet\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taulant Allkja, Captain of the Port of Durres, told BIRN that the Hanuman<\/em>, IMO number 9295048, had been identified by Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence service, GUR, and partner services as part of the \u201cshadow fleet\u201d \u2013 a network of vessels linked to the transport of Russian oil under Western sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s roadstead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d Allkja told BIRN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data published by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine\u2019s Ministry of Defence, GUR, and updated on June 10, 2026, identifies the Hanuman<\/em> as being involved in transporting Russian petroleum products to third countries under the G7 and European Union oil embargo and price-cap regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allkja said that, according to the Ukrainian intelligence service, in September 2025 the Hanuman<\/em> transported more than 30,000 tonnes of Russian petroleum products from the port of Novorossiysk to Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s state-owned oil pipeline operator Transneft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The so-called \u201cshadow fleet\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n