(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
The "twittiot" and Panama [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-01
I have been wondering about the twittiot’s obsession with Panama and I think I have found one reason. PPR Global has an interesting report on the Russian shadow fleet that may explain this obsession. I have not found much on PPR Global but this is their statement, “Hey, you! Aren't you bored with standard political commentary? With our expert team, we will try to present you, our valuable listeners, the most important political news from various geographies of the world by analyzing them in depth! Israel-centered developments in the Middle East, Russia Ukraine crisis, the latest updates in the Baltic Sea are among the video topics of our channel. Whatever you want to hear that is of interest to the United States, you will find it here.” Now on to their findings.
The Russian shadow fleet operates under insurance issued by Russian companies. It is supposedly well know that these companies exist only on paper and the policies are not worth the paper they are written on. However, there are a number of countries that do not care. Examples are: UAE, VietNam, Seychelles and the Marshall Islands. They will accept any flag of convenience, i.e. Gabon, Cook Islands, Panama, etc. and register your vessel. The shadow fleet is also responsible for 80% of Russian crude oil shipments and comprises approximately 800 vessels. Why are these vessels so necessary to the Russian economy? Because the sale of natural gas to the EU is effectively now at zero. A loss of eight billion in annual sales. To finance the war effort in 2024 with Ukraine, Russia has redirected sixteen point four billion dollars of crude oil sales directly to the war effort. This is an increase of 5% over 2023 funding levels.
One hundred twenty-eight of the shadow fleet is registered in Panama and they have just de-registered 78 of those 128 and the rest of the de-registrations are set to occur shortly. These ships that were flying Panamanian flags of convenience will now be easily identified as vessels from a particular sanctioned country when they change the flag they sail under. This de-registration is supposedly going to cost Panama $200,000,000/year in lost revenue. A rather healthy chunk of change to sacrifice to stay in the good graces of the EU and a large number of non-EU countries. If the twittiot gets his hands on the Canal he can effectively dictate terms to the Panamanian government and his BFF can continue registering shadow fleet vessels under a Panamanian flag. The math states that 128 vessels, size being equal, not being able to move crude oil freely would amount to an annual loss of $1.06 billion. A significant dent in any country’s purse. Especially a country at war.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/1/2313933/-The-twittiot-and-Panama?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
