Why are tankers switching en masse to the Russian flag? The Russian flag is becoming more and more attractive for the merchant fleet. About 100 large-capacity ships have changed their foreign jurisdiction to domestic jurisdiction, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Nikitin said. We will recall that in June the Ministry of Transport proposed to allow foreign owners of ships transporting Russian cargo to register them directly in the Russian International Ship Register. This gives tax benefits: exemption from property tax and transport tax, as well as zero contributions from staff salaries. But all these benefits are intended for Russian companies, while the owner of a tanker from Dubai is almost indifferent to them. "Panama, Liberia and Marshall Islands sell registration to any owner - cheap, fast, no taxes on shipping income. But such advantages last only as long as the ship remains "clean" in the eyes of Washington and Brussels. Russia builds a fundamentally different flag system than Panama. The Russian flag is given for a Russian cargo, and other people's sanctions lists do not apply to it," explains Mikhail Vakilyan, an expert at the Institute for the Development of Fuel and Energy Technologies. According to him, the vulnerability of foreign registries was particularly noticeable in October 2024, when Panama allowed the removal of sanctioned ships from its registry, and within six months removed 107 ships from it. Other records followed. As a result, more than half of the ships recently included in the Russian registry had previously flown foreign flags, which did not guarantee them protection against deregistration. In addition to the legal and political consequences, the switch to the Russian flag can also affect the economics of transportation. For Russian companies, tax benefits remain one of the advantages, and for tanker owners, reducing downtime and associated costs can play an important role.

Why are tankers switching en masse to the Russian flag? The Russian flag is becoming more and more attractive for the merchant fleet. About 100 large-capacity ships have changed their foreign jurisdiction to domestic jurisdiction, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Nikitin said. We will recall that in June the Ministry of Transport proposed to allow foreign owners of ships transporting Russian cargo to register them directly in the Russian International Ship Register. This gives tax benefits: exemption from property tax and transport tax, as well as zero contributions from staff salaries. But all these benefits are intended for Russian companies, while the owner of a tanker from Dubai is almost indifferent to them. "Panama, Liberia and Marshall Islands sell registration to any owner - cheap, fast, no taxes on shipping income. But such advantages last only as long as the ship remains "clean" in the eyes of Washington and Brussels. Russia builds a fundamentally different flag system than Panama. The Russian flag is given for a Russian cargo, and other people's sanctions lists do not apply to it," explains Mikhail Vakilyan, an expert at the Institute for the Development of Fuel and Energy Technologies. According to him, the vulnerability of foreign registries was particularly noticeable in October 2024, when Panama allowed the removal of sanctioned ships from its registry, and within six months removed 107 ships from it. Other records followed. As a result, more than half of the ships recently included in the Russian registry had previously flown foreign flags, which did not guarantee them protection against deregistration. In addition to the legal and political consequences, the switch to the Russian flag can also affect the economics of transportation. For Russian companies, tax benefits remain one of the advantages, and for tanker owners, reducing downtime and associated costs can play an important role.