Norwegian Firm Under Investigation For Fake Insurance Of Russian Tankers

A Norwegian company, Romarine AS, is under investigation for issuing fraudulent insurance certificates to oil tankers linked to Russia’s efforts to bypass international sanctions.

Norway’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) revealed that Romarine was never registered as an insurance provider but still provided documents for ships suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”

Western nations have sanctioned numerous ships believed to be involved in Russia’s attempts to evade price caps and restrictions on crude oil exports.

These vessels usually operate without insurance from Western providers, which increases safety and environmental risks.

The FSA began investigating Romarine after receiving an inquiry in September 2023 about a document that appeared to certify Romarine as an insurer.

Upon review, authorities found the document contained a forged FSA letterhead, a non-existent Norwegian law, and a fake signature from someone who had never worked at the agency.

Following its findings, the FSA sent a warning to Romarine in January 2024, but the company did not respond. As a result, the regulator issued an order on March 4, instructing Romarine to halt its operations.

Romarine later acknowledged receiving the order and stated that it had replied “with some delay through our lawyers.”

The company claimed it was operating within legal regulations but had chosen to pause its business until receiving a response from the FSA.

However, the Norwegian watchdog clarified that it had received no reply from Romarine.

Romarine AS is owned by Andrey Mochalin, a Russian citizen and a former employee of the Norwegian insurance firm Hydor AS.

According to data from the Norwegian commercial database Proff, Mochalin fully owns the company.

The Norwegian state domain registrar Norid AS confirmed that Romarine’s website is registered in Russia. Two commercial IP tracking services traced its location to St. Petersburg.

As of March, Romarine’s website listed at least 30 oil tankers that were under US, EU, and UK sanctions. These included Captain Kostichev and Ionia, two vessels that were found using Romarine-issued insurance certificates when docking at Russian ports.

One certificate dated January 9, was presented by the Gabon-flagged Ionia to Russian port authorities in Primorsk on February 2.

Another dated March 24, was used by the Panama-flagged Captain Kostichev at De Kastri port in Russia’s Far East.

Captain Kostichev was listed as insured until April 24, but Romarine later removed it from its website, while the Ionia remained.

Per LSEG shipping data, Captain Kostichev is operated by UAE-based Stream Ship Management, while the Ionia is owned and operated by Seychelles-based Narus Maritime Corporation.

When questioned about why sanctioned vessels appeared on its website, Romarine claimed that this was due to a “technical glitch” after implementing an automated system.

The company said it was working to identify what went wrong.

The case has now led to a criminal investigation by Oslo police, who are probing Romarine’s activities. Authorities are investigating four individuals, a Bulgarian, a Russian, and two Norwegian citizens, on suspicion of creating and using falsified documents and illegally conducting insurance brokerage.

Police confirmed that in late March, they searched the residence of one of the suspects. On March 25, the FSA issued a public warning against using Romarine’s services.

Reference: Reuters

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