Fractal Shipping from the UAE and
Turkey’s Beks Ship Management are among the high profile shipping names
included in the latest raft of sanctions unveiled by the UK 21 Feb ahead of
tomorrow’s second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Both
Fractal and Beks have seen their fleet size increase dramatically over the last
couple of years. Other shipping-related entities hit with UK sanctions
yesterday include Turkey’s Active Shipping, Arctic LNG 2 and oil trader Niels
Troost and his Swiss company Paramount Energy & Commodities. Azia Shipping
Company and Ibex Shipping, accused of transferring weapons from North Korea to
Russia, were also sanctioned.
David Cameron, the UK’s foreign
minister, said: “Our international economic pressure means Russia cannot afford
this illegal invasion. Our sanctions are starving Putin of the resources
he desperately needs to fund his struggling war.”
A
release from the British government said the country was preparing to bolster
its existing powers to target “malign
Russian shipping activity and individual ‘shadow fleet’ vessels” used by
Russia.