A FURTHER FIVE anonymously owned, elderly tankers including four connected to Gatik Ship Management — a major shipper of Russian oil to India — have joined Unic Tanker Ship Management Co Ltd, a highprofile Turkish shipmanager.
This brings the tally of dark fleet* tankers joining Unic to nine over the past eight months, all deployed in Russian trades.
The four tankers from Gatik or companies linked to Gatik were aframaxes Attica (IMO: 9436941), and Odysseus (IMO: 9332810), long range 1 product tanker Agnes (IMO: 9314167), and Voula (IMO: 9290828).
Unic began managing another tanker now exclusively shipping Russian oil, Destan (IMO: 9388766) in July, two months after its sale in May by UK-based Union Maritime.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing or that Unic is breaching sanctions.
The company had earlier taken on aframaxes Alicia (IMO: 9323986), Helga (IMO: 9419151), and medium range product tankers Atacama (IMO: 9248801) and Hana (IMO: 9353113) from Gatik.
All are flagged in Panama, Gabon, or Palau.
The interim owner and manager of Destan between May and July cannot be identified; upon sale in May it was immediately deployed solely in Russian trades, lifting cargoes from both Baltic and Black sea ports.
None of the tankers managed by Unic have P&I insurance with the 12 clubs that are members of the
International Group. Insurance with any of the 12 clubs is widely used as a proxy for compliance with the Group of Seven oil price cap and sanctions on Russia oil exports.
The anonymous entity or entities backing Gatik Ship Management formed the India-based company in 2022 and it quickly emerged as the world’s largest dark fleet operator by early 2023 after amassing more than 50 elderly tankers in less than 18 months.
Gatik spent more than $1.5bn on a fleet designed for shipping Russian oil as Western sanctions were implemented.
Operating from a Mumbai shopping mall, Gatik’s fleet fragmented to more than a dozen shipmanagement subsidiaries after April after some tankers were deflagged, declassed and had Western insurance withdrawn for breaching sanctions.
Unic is the only company that has taken on former Gatik ships that can be verified and traced. Other
shipmanagement companies of former Gatik vessels provided addresses based in India traced to small residential and retail buildings, car parks or anonymous offices that have no online presence.
Izmir-based Unic is owned by prominent Turkish shipping figures, with company directors listed as Coskun Agca, Sadi Kanat Kizildemir, with Mehmet Hakan Tufekci a board member and legal adviser.
The company was formed in 2020.
Agca is the general manager and Kizildemir a partner at the company according to his Linkedin page. Tufekci is the managing partner of Tufekci Law Firm, his profile shows, and is a spokesperson of the maritime committee for the country’s chamber of commerce.
He also posted two months ago that he became a committee member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), drawing congratulations from prominent maritime lawyers worldwide on his page.
Unic did not respond to an email or answer phone calls seeking comment about the new vessels entering its fleet.
The company’s fleet in addition to the nine tankers it is managing for Russian trades also includes the liquefied petroleum gas carrier Pallada Gas (IMO: 9143154) which joined its managed fleet in April according to its social media page.
In October 2022 the company referenced the role of Malta-flagged Sen Arche (IMO: 9443061), a Maltaflagged 8,956 dwt product tanker in rescuing migrants off northern Africa.
The Sen Arche’s ISM manager since February 2023 is Borealis Denizcilik Anomin Sirketi, known as BoDen, according to the Lloyd’s List Intelligence website.
Another tanker, 7119 dwt Kolin 9 (IMO: 9477177) is linked to the company, as well as 3,409 dwt LPG carrier Poseidon Gas (IMO: 9249697), according to shipping databases.
Other entities that have taken over as shipmanager from Gatik include ARK SeaKonnect Shipmanagement, Caishan Ship Management, Galena Ship Management, Gaurik Ship Management, Geras Ship Management, Girik Ship Management, Orion Ship management, Plutos Ship Management, and Zidan Ship Management.
All are based in India and have no online presence.
* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned and/or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined by US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to governmentcontrolled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned. Download our explainer on the different risk profiles of the dark fleet here
Lloyd's List Daily Briefing 14 November 2023