I run a small project that follows sanctioned ships on AIS. Over the last month about thirty sanctioned tankers have come up on new Russian MMSIs, most of them from Cameroon, Sierra Leone or Panama numbers. That part is known, Windward and others have written about the reflagging. What I haven’t seen anyone mention is the names. Half of them came back as Russian mineral names: Izumrud, Sapfir, Tanzanit, Morganit, Khrizolit, Giatsint, Turmalin, Nefrit. July’s batch leaned to northern rivers, Vychegda, Sukhona, Yenisei. A few others are fortifications, Tsitadel, Garnizon, Ravelin.
The one I watched happen this morning is Kira K, IMO 9346720. She dropped her Panama number and came up as Khrizolit on 273125430 around 11:35 UTC, heading north off the Portuguese coast at about 13 knots. Six sanctions lists still call her Kira K.
Does anyone here know how a ship gets its name on entry to the Russian flag, whether the owner picks it or the registry does?