Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation holds on whether oil tankers registered under the St. Kitts and Nevis international ship registry have transported refined oil products from Russia to third countries.

The UK, alongside G7 partners, has introduced unprecedented and wide-ranging sanctions on Russian oil and oil products, and the revenues they generate. The government has moved swiftly to ensure we have the right tools and structures in place to rigorously enforce those sanctions. Alongside our partners, we continue to monitor our oil-related measures and reserve the right to take further action to ensure their effectiveness. UK law requires breaches of sanctions to be reported to HM Treasury, however we do not require reporting from non-UK entities or where the service is outside the scope of the relevant sanctions.

While flagging and registration services are not in scope of the ban on maritime services for the transport of Russian oil and associated oil price cap, the UK government can make use of a process of applying sanctions and deregistration in the event of any circumvention or breach of the maritime services prohibition by UK-flagged ships.

Any UK-flagged vessel which the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to suspect is, has been, or is likely to be, involved in circumventing or breaching the Maritime Services Ban could could be deregistered from the UK shipping register.