windward passage 2 yacht

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

World’s coolest yachts: Windward Passage

• Toby Heppell
• May 10, 2023

We ask top sailors and marine industry gurus to choose the coolest and most innovative yachts of our times. Luca Bassani nominates Windward Passage

“A very modern boat for her times: very large stern (almost like today’s naval architecture) and semi-round bilge hull made her very fast in reaching – and with a flush deck!” says Luca Bassani. “For a long time she was the fastest boat in real time in the SORC regattas – ie the world’s fastest boat – and she can be considered the first modern maxi yacht.”

Windward Passage was designed by the late Alan Gurney as an ocean racing record breaker for lumber tycoon Robert Johnson and built in laminated wood in 1968. The semi-planing hull was radical for the time, particularly beamy with a shallow canoe body, a fin keel and an elegant run aft to a broad transom – a shape described on launching as a ‘73ft dinghy’. Windward Passage won and set a record for the Transpac Race in 1971. Originally designed as a ketch she was later refitted to a sloop rig designed by Doug Peterson.

Photo: Windward Passage/D Ramey Logan/Wikimedia Commons

“A true yet forgotten myth,” concludes Bassani.

Make sure you check out our full list of  Coolest Yachts .

Windward Passage stats rating

Top speed: 25 knots LOA: 73ft/22m Launched: 1968 Berths: 12 Price: €500,000 Adrenalin factor: 50%

Luca Bassani

The visionary founder of Wally Yachts, Luca Bassani created an iconic brand and can be credited with shaping the trend for clean Italian aesthetics in yachting. As well as being ahead of the curve with yacht design, he has won world championships in sailing and industrial design awards for his innovative style.

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May / June 2021

Windward passage.

The maxi-yacht WINDWARD PASSAGE began her ocean-racing career soon after her launching in 1967. She was immediately successful, taking line honors in some of the world’s major events. “PASSAGE,” as she is affectionately called, is seen here soon after the start of the 1975 Sydney-Hobart Race.

"No maxi ever built can match WINDWARD PASSAGE I for pure glamour,” wrote the author Preben Nyeland is his book Maxi: The Ultimate Racing Experience. “Just the drop of her name at a sailor’s bar can focus attention and start a long conversation.”

There’s nothing ordinary about this 73' cold-molded racing rocket or her 53-year history. She gained nicknames such as the “Wooden Whale,” “Big Dinghy,” and “Passing Wind” from envious competitors such as the hard-charging Jim Kilroy in his maxi KIALOAs and Sumner “Huey” Long in his ONDINEs. But to her loyal crews and admirers, she has always been known simply as “PASSAGE.”

The legend of WINDWARD PASSAGE began in 1963 when Robert F. Johnson, a yachtsman and controlling shareholder of the Georgia Pacific lumber juggernaut, launched his quest to break ocean-racing records. Without regard to racing rules and handicap formulas, he sought line honors and jaw-dropping elapsed-time postings in major Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and Southern Ocean races. “It was all about being the first boat to finish,” says PASSAGE’s professional skipper for the past 30 years, David “Halfdeck” Johnson, who is not related to the yacht’s original owner.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker, and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport. Specializing in fitting the proper vessel for your needs. Cruising and Racing Sailboats , Down East Style Power & Pre-owned Duffy Electric Boats. Please contact me at (714) 931-6710 or [email protected].

Tuesday, December 01, 2020

Notes from my tour of windward passage:.

17 comments:

Len, thank you for this article about one of the most beautiful and timeless yachts of the last 50 years. I was astounded when I (as a 13-year-old boy) first saw the profile drawings of this incredible Alan Gurney design in a boating magazine. I try to walk down the Ardell Marina Dock to view it every time I visit Newport. The boat is maintained in utterly bristol condition. The owners have really done right by her. During her first few years, I enjoyed reading about her many new course records set. Then, one day while laying on the beach at the Balboa Bay Club, the sky went dark. I looked up and saw 7077 on a gigantic sail that was momentarily blocking the Sun. WP was sailing up the bay. I was dumbfounded! I stole a friend's boat and collected another close friend who was also a WP fan. We were so impressed with the boat, and with the 19.5' beam when seen from behind. Great to see interior photos. What a fabulous yacht!

Len--this is an outstanding tour of a dream yacht. I first encountered her in the SORC in 1970. Specifically, the St. Petersburg to Venice Race the last week of January. I was a young chap living in Venice at the time and watched with envy as the "big ones" roared down the coast in front of a blustery norther with Passage leading the pack. And, I waited on the Venice Jetty until the wee hours to see them come beating back up the coast into the 35 knot "breeze". Unfortunately Passage over stood the turning bouy in Boca Grande and let American Eagle slip inside her for the 30-odd mile beat north. Once Eagle started up wind there was no keeping up with her and she was first to finish and first overall. After passage finished in the pre-dawn hours it appeared to me that they mulled coming in the Venice Jetty inlet but misjudged the channel and would up stuck on a sandbar southwest of the inlet. It took a tug to get them off and I seem to recall it bent the keel a bit. Still--she has remained iconic in my mind as I formulated my thoughts of what a great ocean racer should be. She was it and while she may be a bit off the pace now I am glad she is still stout and showing so well. Thank you for this article!

Sailed on many races on Windward Passage..... Notable was the Bermuda Race in 1972 when hurricane Agnes swept through followed by the slow Trans Atlantic Race from Bermuda to Vigo, Spain.... 25+days... ran out of everything but Beck's beer and canned food. She always had a great crew in those days with Don Vaughn, Rex Banks, John Rumsey, Peter Bowker, Kirk Elliott, Dick Haskell and of course chef, Reverand Sandy McKenzie and of course Mark and Fritz Johnson. So great to see her in such beautiful condition.

As a young kid sailing Clearwater Prams and then Opti's, I became aware of the powerhouse WP, no match for the Ondines in the day, well raced for sure.....what a beautiful overlook of how she is today...love this boat, the history....would be happy to test her racing speed today with all the mods....truly an amazing machine, and thankfully the owners get that...a legend, and one of a kind....

Thank you! The Windward Passage just cruised by us over and over at the Huntington Beach Airshow 2017. My family was on deck of the Nordic Blue and we were stunned and mesmerized at the beauty of this amazing boat slowly Navigating between all the anchored boats. So mesmerized I shared about her on FB, and my friend who captains boats got me some info online to learn about her. I love the history and the workmanship keeping her so pristine... Thanks for the pictures!

I had the thrill of watching windward passage come across the finish line at Diamondhead when Mark Johnson was the Skipper, I was on board gary mulls design 33 footer and was racing for the Waikiki yacht club at the time, it was a beautiful site, with the white spinnaker Full, she had a bone in her teeth. Nice to hear she's still alive.

I had the privilege of being aboard the Windward Passage in 1973 (?) Sail checks and such before the Transpac. I’m no sailor, but was so impressed. Lived in Newport for many years and was always so impressed with Windward Passage. A timeless beauty.

Sailed from Ardell's to Honolulu in about 1980 to deliver Passage to the Can Am series of races off Oahu. My close pal was Fritz Johnson back then and he surprised me with the trip of a lifetime. 6 adults and a teenager (Robbie Johnson) Mark's son did the delivery. Dave Birchenough was the boat professional and crew member that moved the boat around for each race at that time. Two other guests were from Flyer, that had won the around the world race the previous year. Scant but dedicated boat pro's and myself and another with no experience outside of a bathtub. What happened in the mid-pacific has been etched in my memory for near 40 yrs. We encountered some wind behind us and had blooper up in front of the mainsail. In no time at all the sea grew to epic conditions with 47 knot winds behind and passage screaming down giant troughs and heeling over trying to mount mountainous waves. The life jackets and lifelines were somewhere under the tomatos in storage. Watched the knot meter bounce off of 20 knots on an upright sprint down a trough. Had a Barient wench in a headlock to survive the crises. Finally the pressure was so great the blooper sail exploded it's frame and the crises of too much sail in too much wind was eased a bit. We were able to reef the mainsail and survived my first time on a sailboat. More adventures were to confront us before we reached Waikiki Yacht club. Don Vaughn met us the next day and laughed about the novices adventure. He was larger than life to be sure. A novices first adventure

I first saw Windward Passage in the water at San Pedro when racing my P-Cat (#465) out of Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club back in the early 1970's. She and several other big yachts were also setting up to race out of the Los Angeles Yacht Club at the time. I was taken by the beautiful lines of this magnificent yacht as I watched her glide by some 10 yards away from me. When she passed by, she left no track or wake... a testament to her smooth hull design. God, what a yacht! One of the few regrets I have is that I never got the chance to sail on her.

I remember this yacht so fondly. It was laid up on a beach. It was originally a ketch. I remember doing a night race once in the late 80’s off Sydney. WP and Apollo were always doing battle. Someone brought a projector on board either WP or Apollo and in light north easterly winds with a huge white spinnaker XXX porn was projected into the kite. Purely to distract the competition. Made the local newspaper as it raised some eyes going past Bondi. It is so glad to hear it is still around and in such great shape. To all involved thanks! Brings back so many fond memories

thank you for posting those pictures as a young guy growing up in sydney australia ,she was a dream boat ,loved seeing her again

I know the Johnson family well and have heard all the accounts of the races. You should see there trophy room!!

I went on board her in Auckland, 1987, hoping to get a paid job. This was my first attempt at being paid to go sailing. Unfortunately they were crewed up. I was in awe of her back then and remain the same today

I had the good fortune to have raced on Passage during her years competing all over the world. Lots of stories!! We did the Bermuda Race in 1982 sailing through Hurricane Agnes and blew out every sail except the storm jib and reefed main. I remember Dottie Johnson asking me if we were going to sink!! After two weeks in Bermuda refitting everything we raced to Vigo, Spain.... The Atlantic High dominated the weather and it took 26 days!! Our cook, Rev Alexander MacKenzie was prepared for a 22 day crossing so the last few days we ate food that no one could imagine..... Mark and Dottie Johnson were great to sail with!!

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22 December 2022

Windward passage (gurney maxi).

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Windward Passage: A Maxi-yacht in Her Sixth Decade

Description.

by Randall Peffer. Photographs by Steve Jost. Design by Ronald Geisman

Conceived by a lumberman-sailor, drawn by a young and then-untested designer, and built of spruce on a Bahamian beach in 1968, the 73’ ocean-racing maxi-yacht WINDWARD PASSAGE had an improbable rise to stardom during her twenty-year racing career. When he first laid eyes on her soon after her completion, the legendary designer Olin Stephens called the yacht “a masterpiece.” In the ensuing years, WINDWARD PASSAGE and her crews roamed the planet, winning the world’s major ocean races and attracting legions of admirers and competitors. She continues today, stronger and swifter than built, as a world-cruiser.

"Publisher Rand Randall Peffer, who profiled WINDWARD PASSAGE for WoodenBoat magazine in 2021, now presents a book-length biography of the storied ocean racer. Randall Peffer, who profiled WINDWARD PASSAGE for WoodenBoat magazine in 2021, now presents a book-length biography of the storied ocean racer."

Published in association with WoodenBoat and printed in Italy on 100-lb stock, Windward Passage: A Maxi-yacht in Her Sixth Decade, is a lavish hardcover presentation, equal to the quality of the yacht itself.

Customer Reviews

The book is so very well done. It's obvious so much love and attention to detail went into making this beautiful account of Passage's story. I remember reading of her and her successes as a young man. This book tells so much more! The words and photos truly pay homage to a one of a kind and iconic vessel. Should be in every sailors library. M.S.Allen s/y Sonata

Windward passage was one of the last big boat constructive wood. It’s a beautiful boat when I was in college I used to sailed my Star by-when it was in Newport Beach California. The book is full of short stories, beautiful pictures and we brought me back 50 years in the past it’s a heavy book so your coffee table better be substantial I also remember the graciousness of the crew and the owners, allowing other sailors, and people to at least go on her decks and look around, especially during fundraisers for events

What an amazing boat, this should be made into a movie. The story about how it was build is fantastic.

Killer book about a legendary yacht.

A wonderful book with great stories

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Windward Passage: A Maxi Yacht in Her Sixth Decade Hardcover – June 1, 2023

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• Print length 334 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Wooden Boat
• Publication date June 1, 2023
• Dimensions 12.7 x 2.1 x 12.2 inches
• ISBN-10 1934982261
• ISBN-13 978-1934982266
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wooden Boat (June 1, 2023)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 334 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1934982261
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1934982266
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.1 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 2.1 x 12.2 inches

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62′ Passagemaker

62′ passagemaker anchorline yacht brokers | est. 1975.

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The Anchorline team have proudly SOLD & SETTELED the 62′ Steel Passagemaker ‘Windward Passage’. 

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Johnson Saga in Sea Racing

By Lols J. Kennedy

• Jan. 25, 1970

The late Robert F. Johnson, Oregon lumber and housing development millionaire, pre ferred to talk about racing his two 73‐foot ketches in long‐distance ocean races than about business.

He was the first to concede he had little chance of win ning arrace on corrected time with either Ticonderoga or Wiridtvard Passage. What he was after, he reiterated, was the elapsed‐time record or, failing that, to be first to fin ish in the races he entered. The record books prove he accomplished these desires many times after acquiring Big Ti in 1963 and launching Windward Passage in No vember, 1968.

On the sunny, warm mom ink: of last Nov. 15 at the Mexican resort town of La Paz, Mark Johnson, 31 years‐ old and skippering the big ketch for the first time with out his father on board, brought the Alan Gurney designed Passage across the line as first yacht to finish the 960‐mile race from Long Beach, Calif.

His arch racing rival, Ken De Meuse's 73‐foot ketch Blackfin, was 1 hour 9 min utes behind.

This was a repeat of the actual finishing order at Honolulu in last July's trans Pacific race, though De Meuse was declared the elapsed‐time winner and record‐setter following a pro test over a starting‐line inci dent that lopped two hours off Passage's elapsed time.

A Four‐Year Schedule

The Long Beach‐to‐La Paz biennial was to have inaugu rated a four‐year worldwide racing schedule for Wind ward Passage, which Bob Johnson had completed sev eral days before he died of a heart attack on Sept. 19. Toasts were being drunk at a family gathering in Ross, Calif., to the famed racing skipper as godfather of a friend's new baby when he collapsed. He was 57 years old.

A heart attack two years previously had caused John son‐ to start quietly putting his affairs in order. The owner of record of the new John son plywood racer was his older son Mark. He and his brother, Fritz, 22, shared their father's enthusiasm for ocean racing, crewing as often as possible.

Mark and his father had worked together on that four‐year racing schedule. The 1971 and 1973 Transpacs and the 1970 Tahiti race, all sponsored by the Transpa cific Yacht Club, were not included.

The big, quiet‐voiced rac ing skipper enjoyed being part of the biennial race from San Pedro to Honolulu. “I love Hawaii and the people,” he ‐declared.

On the West Coast, he raced under the J..ahaina, (Maui) Yacht Club burgee, though he flew the New York Yacht Club burgee when rac ing on the East Coast. Alan Gurney had designed the new broad‐beamed racer with the Transpac in mind. II was Bob's great desire to lower his own elapsed‐time record, set with Big Ti in '65.

He said he had no quarrel with the race committee rul ing, which deprived him, offi cially, of the record. It was based on Transpac rules. His ire was directed at a special rule that stated:

“In case of a sustained pro test, the guilty yacht may... be penalized by having her elapsed time lengthened by not less than two hours or by disqualification.”

He Disputed Ruling

Declared Johnson: “An elapsed time is a fact which cannot be altered, whereas corrected time is an arbi trary, man‐made figure sub ject to man‐made decisions.”

In all, the lumber executive had raced in eight events sponsored by the Transpacific Yacht Club, seven Transpacs and the 1964 Tahiti. It all started when, as a lark, he entered his newly acquired yacht, the Groote Beer, Nazi Hermann Goering's former toy, in the '57 Transpac.

“We were so slow, nobody realized we were in that race,” he recalled with a grin as he sat on the Ilikai Hotel terrace last July.

The Groote Beer was next to last in a fleet of 40. The next boat was Zia, a 73‐ footer of Bill Garden design that he had had built by Ditmar‐Donaldson In Sah Pedro. He raced her in the '59 and '61 dashes to Hono lulu, doing better than the first time, but nothing spec tacular.

After cruising the South Pacific, he started looking for a boat for the '63 race. Ticon deroga, skippered by William Brittain, had finished second behind Howard Ahmanson's 83‐foot Sirius II two years before.

“When I saw her,” Bob said, “I fell in love with her.”

He chartered the Herre shoff‐designed wood‐hulled ketch for the race. In mid Pacific, he radioed Brittain an offer to buy the boat for $50,000 “as is, where is.” As the graceful yacht swept across the Diamond Head line first to finish, Johnson was owner‐skipper.

It was the start of a short but spectacular racing ca reer. During the next six years, according to Chip Cleary of Newport Beach, Calif., who had raced with Johnson as watch captain since 1964, “he established more records for long ocean races in the shortest period of time of any other man in United States yachting his tory.”

A hundred thousand dol Jars went into refurbishing Big Ti, “bringing her up to her racing lines,” in John son's words.

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ISBN: 1934982261

ISBN13: 9781934982266

Windward Passage: A Maxi Yacht in Her Sixth Decade

Conceived by a lumberman-sailor drawn by a young and then-untested designer, and built of spruce on a Bahamian beach in 1968, the 73' ocean-racing maxi-yacht WINDWARD PASSAGE had an improbable rise to stardom during her twenty year racing career. When first laid eyes on her soon after her competition, the legendary designer Olin Stephens called the yacht "a masterpiece." In the ensuing years WINDWAR PASSAGE and her crews roamed the planet, winning... Read Full Overview

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Windward Passage Sailing to Bequia from St. Vincent

Smart sanctions for a stupid war: The West finally gets clever about Russia

Associate Professor in International Development Studies, Dalhousie University

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Robert Huish receives funding from The Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Dalhousie University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.

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The European Union and the United States are now targeting maritime protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance clubs to limit Russian shipping capacity and cap the price of its oil, meaning we’re finally beginning to see some smart sanctions for a stupid war.

P&I clubs are maritime insurance groups that specialize in open-ended, large-risk claims. P&I insurance is a requirement for all heavy cargo and container vessels. Under the new sanctions, European P&I clubs can no longer offer insurance to a vessel carrying Russian oil at a price higher than $60 a barrel .

Since February 2022, governments and the private sector have been imposing piecemeal sanctions against Moscow, including taking aim at the luxury items of oligarchs and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Yachts and jets were highly symbolic , but sanctions against them weren’t really useful.

Read more: Ukraine conflict: Why Russia is mostly protected from sanctions

Russia then lost access to the global SWIFT payment system . Only after some trade deals with India and China did Russia’s currency somewhat stabilize .

Then targeted sanctions were imposed on Russian companies and individuals. Roughly 537 firms, 276 legal entities, 1,637 organizations and 3,369 people faced some sort of coercive economic measure between February 2022 and June 2022.

Going easy on shipping capacity

Only 113 of 3,300 Russian maritime vessels , however, were subject to official sanctions.

Going easy on Russia’s maritime capacity was a blunder for U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and its European counterparts. Ships can smuggle all sorts of trouble, even amid legitimate cargo.

For example, bananas are locally sourced from cocaine-producing countries, and since the fruit expires quickly, customs officials want to move shipments through borders as fast as possible . Eight tonnes of cocaine worth over US$207 million was recently discovered in a banana shipment to Belgium .

If Russia needs something illicit for its war in Ukraine, it likely arrives by sea.

With coercive economic measures on only three per cent of Russia’s entire merchant fleet in the first months of the war, these sanctions were sloppy at best and harmful at worst.

Within days of sanctions being imposed on those 113 Russian-flagged vessels, 18 of them switched to “flags of convenience” by registering the ships in the Marshall Islands and St. Kitts .

This is nothing new for merchant fleets. Ship owners regularly register their vessels in countries that charge little tax and overlook poor labour conditions in exchange for payments to register a vessel under their flag .

This is why countries like Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands ship so much more cargo than countries like the United States and Canada. Most of the world’s cargo and crude are shipped under flags of convenience, making targeted sanctions on national vessels difficult and often futile.

Into the shipping shadows

The direct sanctions against a small number of Russian vessels just encouraged nationally flagged ships to go deeper into the shadows and join their buddies under flags of convenience. Should sanctions be levied at Liberia and the Marshall Islands?

Doing so would put the brakes on hundreds of millions of tonnes of seaborne cargo. The global economy couldn’t handle that, and it would require enormous scrutiny to enforce these measures on guilty vessels.

This is why the latest round of sanctions targeting maritime protection and indemnity insurance companies is clever.

P&I insurance is required for every ship to enter ports to offload goods. The insurance covers the worst calamities, such as loss of life, dock damage and oil spills.

The insured vessel pays into the risk-pooling clubs that can move hundreds of millions of dollars quickly to any country in order to cover the costs of the disaster. Thanks to modern tech, steady tug boats and good harbour pilots, claims on P&I pools are low.

Still, every ship must have it, and the insurance entails massive, collective pots of money. If a sanctioned vessel is in the club, everyone in the club is at risk.

The clubs can also identify disingenuous vessels that might be hiding in their ranks. Data showing the history of flagging and ownership of any vessel is widely available. This allows the clubs to eject the questionable vessel immediately.

Past success

In 2012, the EU denied P&I insurance to Iran, effectively halting global Iranian energy exports within hours .

In 2017, I published research that pointed out that Kim Jong-un was acquiring nearly all of his most troublesome goods by sea, and recommended targeted sanctions against P&I clubs with North Korean vessels in their ranks .

Read more: Kim Jong-un is a gangster: Here’s how to sort him out

Within days of the U.S. and EU imposing such sanctions, North Korea’s activities ground to halt. The regime wound up engaging in high-risk, low-reward sea-to-sea transfers to try to make ends meet .

Now that similar sanctions are in effect against Russia, all 3,300 known Russian ships are grinding to a halt. Some are jamming up traffic around Turkey’s Bosporus Strait and floating idly around Russia’s port city of Vladivostok .

Putin is scrambling to purchase a “shadow fleet ” of about 100 vintage end-of-life tankers to try to get Russian oil to market. That won’t be enough to carry the Russian economy, but it could expose inroads to smuggling markets involving ports that overlook P&I insurance.

Keeping the $60 price cap on Russian oil is risky. Tempting Putin to sell oil under $60 will encourage oil smuggling in the shadows. A full P&I ban on all vessels thought to be Russian, however, would be devastating to Moscow.

Just like how tax evasion brought down Al Capone , it may be this insurance requirement that delivers a crushing economic blow to Putin.

It illustrates why governments and the private sector need to think smarter about sanctions. Don’t sanction the target. Sanction the environment in which they operate.

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• Ukraine invasion 2022

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Russian Ships Switch Flags At Record Rate On Sanctions Scrutiny

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By K. Oanh Ha

Apr 3, 2022, (Bloomberg) –Many more Russian-flagged vessels than usual switched their flags to other countries in March, possibly to conceal their ties to Moscow and avoid being caught up in sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, according to maritime consultancy Windward Ltd. 

A total of 18 ships, including 11 cargo vessels from the same fleet, changed to non-Russian flags last month, Tel Aviv-based Windward said. That’s more than three times the monthly average for Russian vessels. It’s also the first time the figure has hit doubledigits, based on data going back to January 2020.

“Some of these instances may point to bad actors intentionally disguising their identity to conduct business that would not be allowed under the new sanctions ,” Windward said in a report shared with Bloomberg News.  

The flag switches come as Russian vessels from oil tankers to multimillion-dollar yachts owned by oligarchs have gone dark , turning off identification and location transmitting systems that should always be on while at sea. The practice helps avoid detection and can pose risks to maritime safety.

Related Article: Russian Tankers Going Dark Raises Flags on Sanctions Evasion

The U.S., U.K. and other allies have ramped up sanctions against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine that began in late February. U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on March 8 banning imports of Russian oil and gas, while the U.K. said it will phase out oil imports by the end of the year. Both countries, along with Canada, have also barred Russian ships from their ports.

“Foreign companies have different motivations for moving from the Russian flag, they want their vessels to be able to operate everywhere without restrictions and, in some cases for moral reasons,” said Windward product manager Gur Sender.

Of the 18 vessels, three are tankers — two of which transport oil, according to Windward. Five that changed flags in March are connected directly to Russian owners. Eleven cargo ships are from the same fleet owned by a United Arab Emirates company, and they all switched flags to the Marshall Islands. Three vessels changed to Saint Kitts and Nevis flags. 

Related Article: Marshall Islands Considering ‘Expelling’ Russian Vessels from Ship Registry

Switching flags isn’t necessarily unusual — it sometimes happens due to a change in ownership or area of operation, Sender said. The monthly average for Singapore vessels in 2021 was 17 flag changes, while Japan averages five per month this year. Those numbers remain consistent, however. Changes in Russia’s 3,300-strong fleet suddenly jumped, having never exceeded more than nine in any month going back to January 2020, Windward data show.  

“What makes flag changes interesting is when they are taking place in correlation with trade restrictions against a specific country, especially when one of the management or ownership companies is in fact registered in that same restricted country,” Sender said. 

In an advisory last May on deceptive shipping practices, the U.S. Treasury warned that “bad actors may falsify the flag of their vessels to mask illicit trade. They may also repeatedly register with new flag states (‘flag hopping’) to avoid detection.” 

The practice is likely to become more common if the war in Ukraine continues, said Ian Ralby, chief executive of I.R. Consilium, a maritime law and security consultancy. Ships flying the flags of the Marshall Islands and the Caribbean nation St. Kitts and Nevis are less likely to draw attention and scrutiny. 

“It’s all a clear attempt by Russian ship owners and operators to try to obscure the identities of the vessels,” he said. “They want to avoid detection.”

© 2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Russian Ships Switch Flags at Record Rate on Sanctions Scrutiny

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(Bloomberg) — Many more Russian-flagged vessels than usual switched their flags to other countries in March, possibly to conceal their ties to Moscow and avoid being caught up in sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, according to maritime consultancy Windward Ltd. 

Russian Ships Switch Flags at Record Rate on Sanctions Scrutiny Back to video

A total of 18 ships, including 11 cargo vessels from the same fleet, changed to non-Russian flags last month, Tel Aviv-based Windward said. That’s more than three times the monthly average for Russian vessels. It’s also the first time the figure has hit doubledigits, based on data going back to January 2020.

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“Some of these instances may point to bad actors intentionally disguising their identity to conduct business that would not be allowed under the new sanctions,” Windward said in a report shared with Bloomberg News.  

The flag switches come as Russian vessels from oil tankers to multimillion-dollar yachts owned by oligarchs have gone dark, turning off identification and location transmitting systems that should always be on while at sea. The practice helps avoid detection and can pose risks to maritime safety.

The U.S., U.K. and other allies have ramped up sanctions against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine that began in late February. U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on March 8 banning imports of Russian oil and gas, while the U.K. said it will phase out oil imports by the end of the year. Both countries, along with Canada, have also barred Russian ships from their ports.

“Foreign companies have different motivations for moving from the Russian flag, they want their vessels to be able to operate everywhere without restrictions and, in some cases for moral reasons,” said Windward product manager Gur Sender.

Of the 18 vessels, three are tankers — two of which transport oil, according to Windward. Five that changed flags in March are connected directly to Russian owners. Eleven cargo ships are from the same fleet owned by a United Arab Emirates company, and they all switched flags to the Marshall Islands. Three vessels changed to Saint Kitts and Nevis flags. 

Switching flags isn’t necessarily unusual — it sometimes happens due to a change in ownership or area of operation, Sender said. The monthly average for Singapore vessels in 2021 was 17 flag changes, while Japan averages five per month this year. Those numbers remain consistent, however. Changes in Russia’s 3,300-strong fleet suddenly jumped, having never exceeded more than nine in any month going back to January 2020, Windward data show.  

“What makes flag changes interesting is when they are taking place in correlation with trade restrictions against a specific country, especially when one of the management or ownership companies is in fact registered in that same restricted country,” Sender said. 

In an advisory last May on deceptive shipping practices, the U.S. Treasury warned that “bad actors may falsify the flag of their vessels to mask illicit trade. They may also repeatedly register with new flag states (‘flag hopping’) to avoid detection.” 

The practice is likely to become more common if the war in Ukraine continues, said Ian Ralby, chief executive of I.R. Consilium, a maritime law and security consultancy. Ships flying the flags of the Marshall Islands and the Caribbean nation St. Kitts and Nevis are less likely to draw attention and scrutiny. 

“It’s all a clear attempt by Russian ship owners and operators to try to obscure the identities of the vessels,” he said. “They want to avoid detection.”

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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