Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the number of oil tankers with opaque ownership or without proper insurance has increased, allowing Russia to build a clandestine fleet to export its oil despite sanctions.
The United States and the United Kingdom announced new sanctions on Friday against the Russian energy sector, which notably target nearly 200 oil tankers and LNG tankers operating from Russia and presented as being part of this “ghost fleet”.
– What do you call a “ghost fleet”?
The UK government defines a “ghost fleet” as vessels engaged in illegal operations with the aim of circumventing sanctions, evading compliance with safety or environmental regulations, avoiding insurance costs or to engage in other illegal activities.
This “shadow fleet” or “dark fleet” already existed before the war in Ukraine, used in particular by Iran and Venezuela, two countries under American oil sanctions, and even North Korea .
Nevertheless, since the start of the war in Ukraine almost three years ago, “the ghost fleet, which previously carried goods mainly to and from Iran and Venezuela, has exploded in size,” according to the American think tank Atlantic Council.
The latter estimates that around 17% of all tankers are part of this fleet which also includes other types of merchant ships.
– Why does Russia use it?
Oil embargo, capping of the price of Russian crude, ban on providing services enabling the maritime transport of oil… numerous sanctions against Moscow attack the windfall of oil exports, vital for Russia and in particular to finance its war in Ukraine.
To get around them, Moscow had to reduce its dependence on Western maritime services by buying tankers to which the country offers its own insurance services.
“These tankers represent 90% of crude exports and 36% of petroleum product shipments” from Russia according to the KSE institute of the Kyiv School of Economics, and allow Moscow to circumvent the ceiling of 60 dollars per barrel and to finance the war in Ukraine.
According to the same source, “196 tankers” full of black gold “left Russian ports in November 2024”.
– What are the risks?
The KSE institute regularly warns of the “enormous environmental risks for the EU” posed by these aging ships.
The Atlantic Council think tank estimated, at the start of 2024, that ships over 20 years old should reach 11% of the global tanker fleet this year in 2025, compared to only 3% before the war in Ukraine.
These ghost ships do not have adequate insurance, called “P&I”, although compulsory for commercial ships, to cover hazards ranging from war risks to collisions or environmental damage such as oil spills.
Some 90-95% of the P&I insurance market is in the hands of insurers from the European Union and the United Kingdom, which therefore enforce the sanctions against Moscow.
“Other types of insurance – such as the alternative schemes proposed by the Russian and Iranian governments – are very insufficient,” underlines Elisabeth Braw, of the Atlantic Council.
These factors make working on board “extremely dangerous”, warns Ms Braw.
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