The cost of oil tankers that can navigate icy waters has surged. The cost of oil tankers that can navigate icy waters has surged ahead of looming European Union sanctions on the export of Russian crude. Some ice-class Aframax vessels have recently been sold at between $31 million and $34 million, double the price compared with a year earlier, said shipbrokers. The bids for tankers have been aggressive and most buyers are preferring to keep their identities secret, they added. The EU will ban seaborne imports of Russian crude to member countries from Dec. 5 and restrict its companies from shipping, insuring and financing shipments, which could hurt Moscow’s access to large vessel fleets held by Greek owners. The sanctions are a result of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. The smaller Aframax-size tankers are most sought after because they can call at the Russian port of Primorsk, where the […]