European Coastguards Confront Russia’s Shadow Fleet
Out on the western Baltic, a coastguard officer radios a nearby, sanctioned oil tanker. “Swedish Coastguard calling… Do you consent to answer a few questions for us? Over.” Through heavy static, barely audible answers crackle over from a crew member, who gradually lists the ship’s insurance details, flag state and last port of call – Suez, Egypt. This is the front line of Europe’s uneasy standoff with Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”; a term that commonly refers to hundreds of tankers used to bypass a price cap on Russian oil exports.
The BBC joined coastguards on the front line of Europe’s standoff with Russia’s sanction-busting shadow fleet
European coastguards and navies are regularly coming in contact with vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet which they suspect are transporting oil. Some “shadow” ships are even suspected of undersea sabotage, illicit drone launches or “spoofing” their location data. Out on the waves, where freedom of navigation is a golden rule, the ability and appetite of coastal countries to intervene is limited, even though the risk they face is escalating.
Shadow Ships Abound: A Growing Network
As the BBC has learned, a growing network of “shadow” ships are sailing without a valid national flag, which can render vessels stateless and without proper insurance. That is a troubling trend, given many are practically “floating rust buckets”, says senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward AI, Michelle Wiese Bockmann. If there is an accident, like a billion-dollar oil spill, “good luck with trying to find somebody responsible to pick up any cost”. Driven by record sanctions and tighter enforcement, the number of falsely flagged ships globally has more than doubled this year to over 450, most of them tankers, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) database.
The head of Estonia’s navy, Commodore Ivo Värk, says that vessels travel back and forth, past Estonia, to major Russian oil terminals
Estonian Navy Tracks Shadow Ships
The head of Estonia’s navy, Commodore Ivo Värk, says they have seen dozens of such passing vessels this year whereas they used to see just one or two. The rise is alarming, he tells me, as we talk in his office overlooking the Gulf of Finland, a narrow gateway to the major Russian oil terminals of Ust-Luga and Primorsk. What’s more, he suggests, it’s brazen: “There’s no secret made about it.” We spot the tanker Unity on the MarineTraffic app, the day we board an Estonian (British-built) Minehunter that is also used in Nato’s Baltic Sentry patrols to protect critical infrastructure.
Journeying east, Unity is over 100 miles away but sailing in our direction. The BBC has investigated its history and it offers an illuminating insight into the enigmatic life of a shadow ship. Tracking data shows that Unity has passed through the English Channel four times in the last twelve months, including journeys between Russian ports and India; a key oil customer that has not signed up to the price cap. Originally known as Ocean Explorer, the tanker was built in 2009 and flew the flag of Singapore for more than a decade. Back in 2019, it was named in a UN report for alleged involvement in a ship-to-ship transfer with a vessel that had been sanctioned for its role in transporting fuel to North Korea – which is among other countries also charged with utilising elusive shadow ships. By late 2021, the vessel – which that year operated under the flag of Liberia – was renamed Unity and began sailing without a valid national flag.
Original Article: On the front line of Europe’s standoff with Russia’s shadow fleet — BBC