Major grid upgrades are expensive, and utilities are under pressure to get the best “bang for the buck” for their investors and customers — scenarios that are not, normally, considered to be mutually compatible.

At least 12 of the 13 Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs — which cover 90% of the world’s ocean-going ships, including those from the U.K. and the U.S. — said they would no longer be able to provide coverage.

Moves by big firms such as Exxon and Shell are increasing the pressure on owners to choose between serving Russian and non-Russian interests.

The compromise persuaded Germany, the EU’s biggest gas consumer but a sceptic over price caps, to back the plans.

The ship’s arrival during northwest Europe’s first major cold snap this winter highlights the need for new gas supplies after Russia slashed deliveries in retaliation for the continent’s support for Ukraine.

The comments leave unanswered questions about how tankers moving Russia’s oil will get insurance if international firms don’t do so.

John Bell, head of the Department of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, explains why food processors and other industries are facing a critical shortage of carbon dioxide.

The tanker buildup is the first sign of the impact of the cap on the international oil market, which has been upended by the war in Ukraine.

Diplomats have been under pressure to nail down the cap plan before EU sanctions on seaborne Russian oil kick in December 5.

The smuggling process builds on operations in Russian-occupied Ukraine, where trucks have moved stolen grain through a clandestine system to Crimea.