April 16 (UPI) -- The Russian tanker Universal, linked to the so-called "shadow fleet," was detected sailing in the North Atlantic heading west toward Cuba, according to maritime tracking platforms.
The vessel is owned by Sovcomflot, the same company that operates the Anatoly Kolodkin, which arrived in Cuba on March 31 with about 730,000 barrels of crude. A U.S. embargo and sanctions on the tanker were not enforced.
The Russian shadow fleet is a network of older, lightly regulated tankers that often move Russian oil covertly by using tactics like Automatic Identification System spoofing, shell companies and opaque ownership to evade Western sanctions.
The Universal departed in early April from a port in the Baltic Sea, and on April 8 was transiting the English Channel.
The Universal was not traveling alone, at least initially. The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich, part of the Black Sea Fleet, escorted the oil tanker Universal during its transit through the English Channel, along with another sanctioned tanker, the Enigma.
