New Zealand Insurer Accused of Secretly Covering Russia’s Shadow Oil Fleet

A New Zealand-based marine insurer, Maritime Mutual, has been implicated in secretly covering ships that transported sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil worth tens of billions of dollars.

The Gaze reports this, referring to Reuters.

The company, headquartered in Auckland and run by 75-year-old British national Paul Rankin and his family, has been operating for over two decades, insuring everything from small tugs to large commercial vessels. 

However, Reuters found that Maritime Mutual’s insurance services extended to tankers circumventing Western sanctions, effectively enabling the continued global trade of embargoed crude.

Data analyzed by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) indicates that ships insured by Maritime Mutual carried at least $18.2 billion worth of Iranian oil and petroleum products and $16.7 billion worth of Russian exports since sanctions were imposed – in November 2018 for Iran and December 2022 for Russia.

According to the investigation, Maritime Mutual’s insurance coverage became a crucial lifeline for these ships, helping them gain access to global ports despite restrictions aimed at curbing Iran’s financing of militant groups and depleting Russia’s wartime revenues from energy exports.

At one point, the Auckland-based firm had insured nearly one in six tankers identified by U.S., EU, and UK authorities as part of the sanctioned shadow fleet.

In a statement to Reuters, Maritime Mutual “categorically denied” any involvement in sanction-busting, insisting it follows “a zero-tolerance policy” toward violations and complies with all relevant international laws and regulations. At the same time, the company declined to address specific findings, and neither Rankin nor his family members responded to requests for comment.

As The Gaze previously reported, the EU is moving to strengthen its legal framework for inspecting vessels linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” amid mounting concern that these ships, used to evade oil sanctions, pose growing threats to maritime safety, the environment, and even European security.