Activism, industrial action, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Screenshot from TV2 Nord reportage of the Greenpeace action against Russian oil imports blocking the oil tanker 'Pertamina Prime’s path through Kattegat

1 June 2022

The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on the world’s supply-chains. The major Ukrainian seaports not captured by Russia have reportedly been mined to prevent amphibious operations, and the routes are blockaded by the Russian Black Sea Navy, leading to significant changes in trade-routes and issues transporting agricultural products.

By Kristian Bischoff, Europe and Russia Analyst

However, outside the war zone, the war has also led to a decentralized activist response against Russian energy products, with numerous cases of maritime incidents related to protests, activism, and industrial action over Russian invasion.

In the early stages of the war, environment, and peace activists, who often have the same ideological baseline, were very active in harassing Russian vessels, or vessels transporting Russian energy products. This happened on numerous occasions, where vessels were blocked at ports, by locks, at anchorages, and elsewhere, to prevent them from accessing port infrastructure or conduct transfers, with incidents happening both in the US and Europe. These types of likely diminish in frequency as Russian or affiliated vessels stop trading with Europe, and as the initial anger and focus on the war in Ukraine subsides somewhat.

There have also been numerous incidents of port workers refusing to service vessels sailing under Russian flag, vessels affiliated to Russia, or vessels arriving with Russian cargo. These are both cases of spontaneous refusals by dockworkers and trade union orders to stop servicing vessels. This has usually happened in situations when cargo or vessels are not restricted by formal sanctions. An illustrative case is the THE SUNNY LIGER, a Marshall-islands flagged vessel affiliated to Russia, carrying Russian oil, which was denied service first in Swedish ports, then in Amsterdam, and in Rotterdam in late April and early May. It is uncertain if the vessel has managed to offload its cargo elsewhere.

In relation to activism and the Russo-Ukrainian war, cyber activists, commonly known as “hacktivists”, have targeted multiple Russian organisations, news outlets, companies, and similar as a part of exerting pressure on the Russian Federation following the invasion of Ukraine. Several companies still doing business in Russia are seen as targets by hacktivists and it cannot be ruled out that targeting of shipping companies calling or trading from Russian ports may occur in the future. This will most likely amount to no more than defacement of websites or similar hacks, and not destructive cyberattacks.

Because of the above conditions, Russian oil and energy exports via maritime transports are likely to become increasingly more under-the-radar to avoid activist and worker scrutiny. The same will be true for companies that deal with Russia or in Russian products. In relation to the protests and offloading issues, there has already been a noted increase in STS transfers of Russian energy products off several major ports, including Rotterdam and Ceuta. Mixing Russian products with other products blurs the origin and will help avoid protests, so this is also a central way of evading sanctions.

Therefore, is likely that STS will become a significant method for Russia and Russian companies to export energy products in the future.  Because of this, companies dealing in energy products should be vigilant when it comes to the origin of the products, they take onboard. The implementation of sanctions on Russian energy products will in all probability exacerbate this.

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