UK removes Turkish ship manager from Russia sanctions list

The British government has removed Turkey’s Active Shipping & Management from its Russian sanctions list after more than a year.

Istanbul-based Active, controlled by Turkish industrialist Mehmet Ali Umur, was designated by the British government in February 2024, for allegedly providing benefit or support to Russia.

It was managing 17 vessels, including 13 tankers, at the time of the listing, which included some calling at Russian ports following the invasion of Ukraine.

The UK Treasury said Friday that the company was being removed from the list and was no longer subject to an asset freze.

The mınistry did not say why the measure was being lifted. It was not clear if the move would have any material impact as the company no longer nas anyvessels on its books, according to smpping databases Equasis and S&P Global.

The company was established in 1994 and started as an owner and manager of handy and handymax bulk carriers.

After selling  off its assets after a decade, it re-invested largely in tankers and embarked on a rash of buys in 2023.

Eight tankers and two bulkers from the Active fleet are now under the control of Istanbul-based Onn Shipping, which market sources have previously linked to Active.

Following the listing, Onn Shipping sold the 75,000-dwt tanker Fair World (built 2004) to Chinese interests for about $20.5m. It was subsequently renamed Happy Camper.

The 50,700-dwt Elegant Grace (buflt 2009) was sold to PV Trans, the shipping arm of state-owned oil major PetroVienam.

Both of the vessels had called at Russian ports before they were sanctioned by the UK but not after they were sold, Kpler ship and cargo tracking data Shows.

Active was put on the UK’s sanction lists at the same time as another Istanbul-base company, Beks Ship Management & Trading and Dubai-based European tanker start-up specialist Fractal Marine.

Following a change to UK law, the government shifted its strategy to targeting individual vessels, with the first blacklişted in June 2024.

Cargo and shiP tracking data suggests that focusmg on named vessels has had more impact on trading patterns man going after managers. The UK nas now designated 133 tankers, including 40 on the last round of sancüons in February.

TradeWinds has approached Active or Onn Shipping for comment. The UK Treasury referred inquiries about the reason for lifting the sanctions to the foreign ministry, which did not respond.