Shadow Fleet’s Dark Legacy: Renegade Vessels Emerge
The detention turned out to be rather necessary, as Estonian authorities discovered the tanker had no fewer than 40 deficiencies. (Somehow its last inspection, completed in the Russian port of Novorossiysk in June 2023, had turned up no deficiencies at all.) Fifteen days later, with its most serious problems fixed, the Kiwala was allowed to depart, and Djibouti agreed to let it sail under its flag until May 7.
As of today, however, the Kiwala will likely return to its flag-less existence because it clearly didn’t hurt business: Since doing away with its flag registration last November, it’s been transporting crude back and forth between Russia and southeast Asia. When detained by the Estonians, the vessel was on its way to Ust-Luga to receive another load of Russian crude. Such is the state of maritime order today.
Rule-Breaking Culture Takes Hold
Western governments capped the price of Russian oil. | Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
In a perverse sort of way, it’s good the Kiwala was sailing flagless: It means even flags of extreme convenience found the vessel too risky. Then again, the fact that this didn’t stop it from sailing at all suggests a troubling reality: So unconcerned are shadow vessel owners about international maritime rules that they’re willing to let ships violate the most fundamental commandment of global shipping.
The Renegade Fleet Emerges
Under normal circumstances, the Kiwala should have been detained in Ust-Luga, Sikka, or one of the other Russian or Indian ports where it regularly calls. But it wasn’t. Instead, its owner, its customers and all these ports tolerated its blatant violation of maritime rules. They were comfortable because on today’s oceans, rule-breaking is commonplace and on the rise — whether it’s the shadow fleet, the mysterious incidents involving undersea cables and pipelines, the Houthi attacks on Western-linked merchant vessels, China’s maritime harassment in the South China Sea or its seizure of reefs located in other countries’ waters.
The Consequences of Rule-Breaking
As for the renegade fleet, it poses the same substantial risks as the shadow fleet — including the fundamental question of what happens in case of an accident. Ordinarily, the flag state plays a lead role dealing with accidents (and preventing them). But what happens when there’s no flag?
Law-abiding countries have few options when trying to tackle rule violators in their EEZs, and virtually none in international waters, but credit to Estonia for dealing with the Kiwala. Meanwhile, the rest of us can help by naming and shaming rule-breaking vessels, their owners and managers. We should especially keep an alert eye on other ships joining the renegade fleet.
Banking on Rule-Breaking
For starters, the world should know about Tirad Shipping Inc. — the one-ship outfit in Mauritius that owned and managed the Kiwala when it entered Estonia’s waters — and the vessel’s new manager, the Shanghai-based Hong Ze Hu Shipmanagement Co. Their banks may want to take a closer look at them too because if they trade in dollars — as they most likely do — they could well be violating sanctions.
The International Maritime Order
The international maritime order depends on countries and companies adhering to rules. Today, we’re seeing the broken windows theory play out on the high seas: lawlessness begetting more lawlessness. It was almost inevitable that the shadow fleet would be followed by the emerging renegade fleet. But it’s not too late to stop it in its maritime tracks.
Original Article: The shadow fleet was bad — now the renegade fleet has arrived — Politico