The tankers of Seychelles operating abroad are doing well despite the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, said a top official at the Seychelles Petroleum Company (SEYPEC).

Sarah Romain, SEYPEC's acting chief executive, told SNA recently that "our tankers are actually doing well because we are operating between many Russian ports."

After the sale of the Seychelles Pride tanker in January, the archipelago in the western Indian ocean has five tankers left - Seychelles Pioneer, Seychelles Progress, Seychelles Prelude, Seychelles Patriot and Seychelles Paradise.

Most of the remaining tankers, apart from Seychelles Paradise, known as the "green tanker" that serves the islands, are operating in international waters.

The four tankers are currently going between Primorsk, the largest Russian oil-loading port in the Baltic Sea, and Espluga in Spain, which Romain says "requires a high premium to operate there, so revenue we are collecting is higher."

SEYPEC has paid off all the loans taken to acquire the tankers, which in turn means that all the revenue being collected is for Seychelles.

She said that with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine war in Russia "everything has gone up including the charter rates for the tankers where 50 percent of the crew are Seychellois.

"Even though we are trading between Russia and European ports, we are still concerned because there may be sanctions imposed at any moment. If this happens, what will our tankers do?" added Romain.

SEYPEC said that although the tankers are doing good business at the moment, the company is ensuring that they are always safe.

"Our shipping management company, German Tanker Shipping, which is overseeing the work being carried out, is ensuring they are safe as they are not going to the Black Sea," she added.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is taking place in the Black Sea while the Seychelles tankers are operating in the Baltic Sea.

The only tanker from Seychelles that previously operated in the Black Sea was Seychelles Pride, which the company has sold off.

Although the tankers made a profit of SCR 3.7 million ($257,311) in 2020, Romain explained that the revenue was not enough to reduce the price of fuel locally.