One in six oil tankers worldwide belongs to Russia's shadow fleet – NYT
Russia has managed to bypass Western sanctions by creating a shadow fleet of oil tankers. It has been estimated that around 17% of all active vessels of this class are used to transport Russian oil.
Source: The New York Times
Details: The West imposed a series of sanctions aimed at limiting the Kremlin's profits from oil exports after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, Russia quickly established a new earning scheme: it assembled a fleet of old ships with opaque ownership structures, which secretly deliver oil to China, India and other distant markets.
S&P Global Market Intelligence estimated that at the beginning of 2025 this shadow fleet included around 940 vessels, which is 45% more than in 2024. Its share accounts for approximately 17% of the global tanker fleet.
Many of these ships operate without proper insurance, frequently change flags, report false location data and conduct ship-to-ship oil transfers. This complicates tracking the origin of the oil and monitoring compliance with sanctions.
S&P reported that the average age of these vessels is about 20 years, compared to 13 years for the oil fleet as a whole.
"Lack of insurance combined with the really old vessels – this just increases the risk of environmental catastrophe," said Nataliia Hozak, Director of Greenpeace Ukraine.
In addition, some of these vessels are suspected of underwater sabotage – damaging pipelines or cables.
"A lot of people want to do the easy part – impose sanctions – but we've actually caused a bigger problem. The sanctions don't put them out of business. They put them out of legitimate business," emphasised Ian Ralby, a maritime security expert and founder of the research firm I.R. Consilium.
Background:
- On 12 September, Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, reported that the European Union was finalising work on the 19th sanctions package to impose additional restrictions on Russian oil sales, the shadow fleet of tankers and banks.
- On 19 September, it became known that US senators had drafted new legislation that would significantly expand US sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers.
- European Pravda, citing European Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho, reported that the proposal for the 19th EU sanctions package against Russia had been approved.
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