Sanctioned Tankers Sold for Scrap Amid Rush to Dispose of Aging Fleet
As more than 4 million barrels of oil a day still move through Russia’s dark fleet of shuttle tankers, it’s being hit hard by the advanced age of the vessels and a tightening network of sanctions. And sometimes by both simultaneously.
In August, the US government quietly sold for scrap the two Russian-flagged, sanctioned tankers, Era and Lileo, that it seized in early 2026 after a long chase from Venezuela into the Atlantic. The ships went to Dubai-based Global Marketing Systems (GMS), but will be dismantled in Alang, India.
The disposal of the tankers highlights a sudden rush to scrap sanctioned ships, many of which are long past their use-by date. So far in 2026, notes Clarksons Research, some 26 vessels have been removed from the dark fleet and sold for recycling. That amounts to 2.1M dwt, accounting for well over half of all global tankers scrapped in the period.
Scrapping Sanctioned Ships: A Growing Trend
Some should have been scrapped much earlier. Caroline Bezengi, a sanctioned, Cameroon-registered crude oil tanker carrying nearly a million barrels of oil, foundered off the Omani coast in July after an onboard explosion. The incident resulted in the release of oil across hundreds of square kilometres. Built nearly a quarter of a century ago, Caroline Bezengi is about 11 years older than the global fleet average, and one of the oldest of the shadow fleet, which has an average of 21 years. It has been most recently used to haul crude mainly in the Baltic Sea and Pacific, and sanctioned by at least six countries, including the US, according to Open Sanctions.
The surge in scrapping of sanctioned ships runs counter to normal. As Clarksons explains, the tonnage of overall ship recycling stands mid-way through 2026 at 6.4M dwt, 14% lower than at the same point in 2025, while bulker recycling has barely scraped above 2M dwt, down 35% on last year. In short, it’s the dark fleet that’s keeping the dismantling industry in business.
Turkey’s Aliaga Peninsula: A New Ship-Scrapyard
One beneficiary of the scrapping of the illegal fleet is Dubai’s GMS. In early August, it picked up two more vessels, Marinero and Galileo (previously known as Veronica), that the US Treasury handed over after they were seized by the US Navy, this time under Iranian sanctions. Both were waived through by the US government without recourse to their previous (sanctioned) owners. GMS did not have to pay the owners, nor did it in the case of four other Iranian-sanctioned box ships. Reportedly, insurers and bankers were unhappy with the arrangement.
Another graveyard for Putin’s fleet is the Aliaga Peninsula in Turkey, where several ships have been grounded for scrapping in the last two years, including Eagle S made infamous for its reported involvement in anchor-dragging incidents in Finnish waters. Aliaga could now be the third-biggest ship-scrapping area. According to the independent site Turkey Recap, these vessels are dangerous to dismantle because of toxic spaces, the presence of asbestos, and the absence of certification such as an Inventory of Hazardous Materials.
Sanctions Ignored for Scrapping Yards
Although sanctions apply on the high seas, they are now officially ignored for the wrecking yards. Since April 2026, the EU exempted approved yards from any penalties when dealing with EU-blacklisted ships, provided they are sent directly to them for “the explicit purpose of dismantling and recycling”. The ruling follows advice from a variety of shipping companies that it’s essential to provide a legal pathway to remove rust buckets from operational life. Recyclers outside the EU should meet international frameworks such as the Hong Kong Convention.
In future years there will be a lot of unseaworthy sanctioned vessels to break up.
Latest estimates put the shadow fleet at over 700 ships, including Aframaxes and VLCCs, many of them in a dire state. In the event of a peace between Russia and Ukraine, observers predict a “tsunami of scrap ships.”
Original Article: Disposing of the Dark Fleet: sanctioned ships sent to the scrapyard — Rivieramm