President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the package on Tuesday. Image Credit: European Commission

The European Union is planning to pay particular attention to the bunker industry in its latest package of sanctions on Russia.

The European Commission announced its 21st sanctions package against Russia on Tuesday, which will need to be approved unanimously by EU countries.

The package includes wide-ranging measures across energy, financial services, cryptocurrencies and trade, but will take a particular focus on those delivering bunker fuel to the shadow fleet, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said.

"We will continue targeting the shadow fleet," Von der Leyen said.

"Today, we propose listing 30 more vessels on top of the 632 already sanctioned.

"For the first time, we are also targeting vessels that assist the shadow fleet – providing bunkering and other services for example."

Any ships providing fuel to the shadow fleet will themselves be sanctioned, Vice-President Kaja Kallas said.

"Our work on curbing the operations of Russia’s shadow fleet continues, with 30 new vessels sanctioned, proposals for new designations of enablers, and the expansion of our criterion for vessels listings," Kallas said in a social media post.

"Any ship supplying or refuelling blacklisted ships will be exposed to sanctions itself.

"Two Russian ports and four airports will also face transaction bans."

The largest bunkering firms have generally implemented robust internal processes to avoid doing business with Russia-related shipping since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But Russia's shadow fleet remains active, more so since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz put oil markets under pressure this year, and these ships are not only dealing with Russian oil companies at Russian ports to receive their fuel.