Shadow Fleet Activity Off Singapore Highlights ‘Wild West’ of Sanction-Evading Oil Transfers
British expat Remy Osman has a front-row seat from which to watch the growing “shadow fleet” of vessels off Singapore filled with Russian, Iranian or Venezuelan oil in the process of evading Western sanctions.
Mr. Osman, a salesman in the Asian city-state’s food and beverage industry, has built an internet following in his spare time by documenting the passage of tanker ships that in many cases are part of the illicit trade in oil. From his apartment, armed with a camera and telephoto lens, he identifies and captures photos and videos of these vessels en route to international waters. Once out of local jurisdictions, they sidle up to another ship and transfer their hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil.
Shadow Fleet’s Logistics Advantage
The busy shipping lanes in the South China Sea offshore of Singapore and neighbouring Malaysia are a growing site for ship-to-ship transfers of oil from countries under Western sanctions, offering logistical advantages for shadow fleet vessels. “It’s kind of a Wild West zone that’s geographically close to where the buyers are likely to be,” Mr. Osman said.
“It tends to be sanctioned oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela. And then it typically tends to be transferred to buyers and shipped out to China or India.” The tremendous number of commercial vessels using these waterways means it’s easier for tankers with illicit oil to blend in among all the traffic.
Identifying Shadow Fleet Vessels
Mr. Osman looks for telltale signs of shadow fleet vessels before taking photos. First, if the AIS (automatic identification system) data being broadcast from the ship is odd – for instance, the ship is supposed to be coming from China but is pointed toward China; and second, if the vessel is flying an unusual flag. “If it’s got a flag from an unregulated and undeveloped maritime country – if it’s some random African country which doesn’t really have a merchant fleet – that’s usually a good clue,” Mr. Osman said.
The third criteria is whether it’s an older vessel – 15 to 25 years old. He then runs the ship registration information against Western lists of vessels under sanctions, verifying whether the ship is indeed part of the shadow fleet.
Original Article: Shadow fleet activity off Singapore highlights ‘Wild West’ of sanction-evading oil transfers — Theglobeandmail