Govt says Gunmetal Jag is not subject to sanctions

The Gibraltar Government has said the tanker Gunmetal Jag is not currently subject to sanctions after Spanish media reports linked the vessel to the so-called Russian shadow fleet.

The Gibraltar Port Authority said it had carried out compliance checks using specialist maritime intelligence and sanctions-monitoring platforms, including Lloyd’s List Intelligence and Kpler.

According to the Gibraltar Government, those checks confirmed that neither the vessel, its registered owner nor its identified ship management company is currently subject to sanctions.

The clarification followed an article published in Spanish media on October 22 under the headline “Un petrolero vinculado a la flota fantasma rusa fondea en Gibraltar”.

The Gibraltar Government acknowledged that the Gunmetal Jag had previously transported petroleum products originating in Russia, but said this did not in itself establish a breach of international sanctions.

It said the applicable restrictions depended on the nature of the cargo, the circumstances of the transaction and the relevant sanctions regime.

The Gibraltar Government also said the vessel had recently called at the Spanish port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where it remained berthed between August 3 and September 1, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

It said the Gibraltar Port Authority maintained procedures for assessing vessels calling at Gibraltar, including compliance and due diligence checks.

The Gibraltar Government said some of the distinctions over the vessel’s status were acknowledged later in the media article but argued that the headline suggested wrongdoing or irregularity associated with its presence in Gibraltar.

It also criticised the omission of the vessel’s recent call at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, saying this gave readers a distorted impression of the facts.

The Gibraltar Government said media reporting should distinguish between vessels that are sanctioned, those that may present compliance risks and those found to have breached applicable restrictions.

It added that the presence of a vessel with a history of transporting Russian-origin cargo did not establish that any sanctions breach had occurred in Gibraltar.