Insurance sanctions encouraged a parallel tanker fleet

The G7 and European Union tied access to major maritime insurers to price ceilings on Russian petroleum exports. Mercogliano recalls expecting Russia to seek alternative insurers or self-insure when the established protection-and-indemnity clubs refused cover. He treats the emergence of a dark, ghost, shadow, or parallel tanker fleet as the resulting adaptation. In his criticism of the policy, enforcement depended too heavily on an existing commercial network that exporters could work around.