Crude oil tanker Andromeda Star (IMO 9402471), which collided with another vessel in Denmarkâs straits on March 2nd while en route to the Russian Baltic port of Primorsk to load Urals crude (IMN, March 22nd), produced a set of insurance documents that were not valid, reports Bloomberg.
The tanker, an 820ft vessel capable of transporting about 730,000 barrels of oil, was involved in a collision with a small Bulgarian freighter called the Peace (IMO 9553983). The tanker had previously collected oil from Russia and did so again after it had undergone repairs in Denmark.
Denmark allows ships calling at Russia to sail through its waters. This is because of a longstanding freedom of navigation treaty. Most ships navigating the Danish Straits require specialist pilots.
The Danish Maritime Authority said as a result of a Freedom of Information request and subsequent queries that the ship provided some of its insurance documentation from Norwegian marine insurer and Group Club Gard, through the non-mutual arm Gard AS. A spokesperson for Gard said it was not the insurer at the time of the collision and did not cover it now.
The provision of Protection and Indemnity insurance by Gard would normally encompass protection against oil spills and other risks, including liability resulting from collisions. Hull and cargo cover would be offered through separate policies, although Gard AS offers Hull cover as well.
The crew also presented Danish inspectors with paperwork showing it had protection from the Russian insurer Ingosstrakh against any costs arising from oil spills. Even if it does have Ingosstrakh protection against spills, there remains a legal uncertainty about its validity if something were to go wrong while a vessel was carrying Russian cargo that violated international regulations. However, it is not a violation of international sanctions to carry Russian crude oil per se. Ingosstrakh has previously said that it complies with all applicable sanctions. For there to be a violation of sanctions the cargo would need to be both non-compliant with the Westâs $60-a-barrel cap on the price of Russian crude, and for there to be a link between the shipowner or crude oil buyer to a country complying with those sanctions.
The documents revealed by Denmark do, however, highlight the problems surrounding the whole situation. The authorities often know little about a vessel beyond the information available publicly, with a similar limitation of information surrounding their knowledge of a vesselâs owners and other service providers. Bloomberg said that the Andromeda Starâs owner has an address that appears to be on a rural street in Goa (in fact, this is the ISM manager, with the listed owner having an address in the Seychelles). Bloomberg said that it was not clear from Google Maps if a property had even been built. A message to the firmâs email address was not returned.
Ingosstrakh said in response to questions about the incident that, as the Danish Maritime Authority had said, the vessel had all of the required certifications, including insurance coverage, and that it wasnât aware of any claimed damages in connection with the incident. It did not confirm or deny that it was the insurer.
Upon inspection after the crash, it also transpired the tanker had issues with its emergency generator.
The Andromeda Star was in the news once again last week after it was damaged in a missile attack by Houthis about 15nm south-west of the Yemeni city of Mocha last Friday (see yesterdayâs IMN). The Houthis claimed that it was a âBritishâ ship, but this looked to be based on publicly available, but out-of-date, information.
Equasis lists the ship as being called the Fulmar from October 2019 to November 2023, when it was renamed the Andromeda Star. UML Abbey Ltd sold the vessel to Algae Marine last November, resulting in a change of manager and ISM manager.
2009-built, Panama-flagged, 63,294 gt Andromeda Star is listed by Equasis as owned by and managed by Algae Marine Inc of Mahe, Seychelles. ISM manager is Margao Marine Solutions OPC of Goa, India.
2012-built, Bulgaria-flagged, 11,627 gt Peace is owned by Primestatus Shipping LLC care of Robex Maritime Ltd of Bourgas, Bulgaria. It is entered with London Club on behalf of Primestatus Shipping LLC.
