Ukrainian intelligence has recognized the captain of the oil embargo-breaking tanker FACCA, part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.
In line with the information solely offered to the Kyiv Impartial by the International Intelligence Service of Ukraine, the captain is a Georgian citizen named Giorgi Devadze.
Devadze, 47, served because the captain of the FACCA tanker, crusing beneath Panama’s flag, with the Worldwide Maritime Group (IMO) identifier 9271951, as of April, in accordance with the information.
Ukraine’s intelligence has been figuring out captains working Russia’s “shadow fleet,” which helps Moscow circumvent Western sanctions and preserve its oil income.
In line with the intelligence company, Devadze comes from Khelvachauri, a metropolis in Georgia. He graduated from the Batumi State Maritime Academy with a level in navigation and had intensive expertise on Handymax and Panamax tankers.
Devadze hasn’t replied to a request for remark by publication time. His connection to the FACCA tanker can’t be independently verified.
The FACCA tanker was sanctioned for carrying Russian oil by the U.Ok. in December 2024, Canada and the EU in February 2025, and Switzerland in March, in accordance with the register of Russia's “shadow fleet” maintained by one other Ukrainian intelligence company, HUR.
Oil and gasoline exports are Russia’s essential sources of income to fund its conflict machine because it continues its aggression towards Ukraine.
The oil embargo imposed by the G7 nations, together with the EU and Australia, in 2022 to cut back Russia’s earnings from vitality exports prohibits maritime transportation and insurance coverage of Russian oil whether it is offered for greater than $60 per barrel.
Vessels and their masters that violate the ban can also grow to be topic to sanctions.
Apart from the oil embargo violation, the FACCA tanker, in-built 2004, might pose a threat of an accident and oil spill at sea, because it has already occurred with outdated Russia-operated tankers.
In line with the Kyiv Impartial’s supply within the International Intelligence Service of Ukraine, the vessel’s age was “already a violation of the foundations of protected tanker operations and an argument in favor of further sanctions.”