Russian shadow fleet
The Russian shadow fleet is a clandestine network of hundreds of vessels operated by Russia to evade sanctions, following the enactment of 2022 Russian crude oil price cap sanctions by the G7 countries and European Union, in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Background
According to Al Jazeera, Russia uses a clandestine shadow fleet to transport sanctioned goods, in particular oil, while flying non-Russian flags to evade scrutiny.According to a November 2024 briefing by the European Parliamentary Research Service, the terms "shadow fleet", "dark fleet" and "grey fleet" do not have a consistent definition and are used interchangeably by journalists and politicians, making it difficult to assess the scale of the phenomenon. In December 2023, the International Maritime Organization agreed on a precise definition, stating that "'dark fleet' or 'shadow fleet' mean ships that are engaged in illegal operations for the purposes of circumventing sanctions, evading compliance with safety or environmental regulations, avoiding insurance costs, or engaging in other illegal activities."
Shadow or grey or dark fleets already existed, used by Iran and Venezuela to try to get around international economic sanctions. Russia was aware that any sanctions against their country would result in a need to control oil tankers to export crude and processed oil. Tankers approaching their end of life span were purchased by Russia, Russian oil companies or opportunists who could then rent them out for a large fee to maintain the flow of oil exports. The price of old tankers rose, with vendors making large profits from their sales. By the end of 2022 there were over 600 ships in the shadow fleet, 400 of which were crude oil tankers. Since then the numbers have increased with estimates of 1,100 to 1,400 ships by December 2023. Only 118 of them have been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, or United Kingdom, with only three sanctioned by all three according to the Kyiv School of Economics. In 2025, the shadow fleet is reported as having more than tripled in size since the start of 2022.
A major problem with the Russian shadow fleet is marine insurance: Western countries have minimum criteria for insurance, which includes verification of the condition of the ship. Two thirds of ships carrying Russian oil have "unknown" insurers. The ships are generally old and more prone to breakdown or leakage. in January 2024 the 18-year-old sanctioned Peria had an anchor malfunction, leaving the ship stranded in the Bosphorus, closing all traffic. Shadow ship operators disguise the true owners and do not feel obliged to maintain the ships to a high standard. Turning off automatic identification systems and undertaking open sea ship-to-ship transfers of oil increase the risk of collisions and spillages.
Certain flags of convenience are favored. Gabon has more than doubled its ships registry in 2023, with an estimated 98% of tankers considered high risk with no identifiable owner. The number of incidents affecting these tankers has increased to around two a month, with groundings, collisions, fire and engine failures, recovering the cost of rescuing these ships is doubtful due to the unknown owner and the unknown insurance, if any.
The Ukrainian government is managing a catalog of ships operating as part of the "shadow fleet", listing 1240 ships as of November 2025.
Various tactics are adopted to make it harder to track vessels in the shadow fleet; these include renaming the ships, changing their country of registration, sailing under false flags, switching off tracking signals, and broadcasting false locations. In one instance, the Arcusat, previously named the Tia, changed its IMO number.
Maritime incidents
Attacks on vessels
In late November 2025, Ukraine's Security Service conducted drone strikes on the "shadow fleet" tankers Virat and Kairos off the Turkish Black Sea coast, later claiming responsibility. This was followed by an attack on the EU-sanctioned tanker Dashan in the Black Sea. A Turkish company halted Russian-related operations after its vessel Mersin was damaged. In December 2025, the SBU executed its first long-range Mediterranean strike targeting a tanker that had recently delivered oil to India.According to a report by The Atlantic, citing U.S. and Ukrainian officials, the Trump administration did not object to the Ukrainian strikes on the shadow fleet, and approved assistance for the strikes, with the US considering the strikes an ″important tool″ to put pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate peace.
Enforcement actions
On 26 December 2024, the Finnish Police Rapid Response Unit Karhu, assisted by Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District, two helicopters from the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Coast Guard, and the patrol vessel Turva, boarded the Cook islands-registered tanker Eagle S, suspected of dragging its anchor and tearing off two submarine communication cables belonging to the Finnish company Elisa the day before.On 21 March 2025, German authorities detained the tanker Eventin. The ship, under the flag of Panama, had left the Russian port Ust-Luga heading for Egypt. The ship lost engine power and drifted into German waters a few days later. It was put on a list of sanctioned ships by the European Union in February. After determining that the Eventin carried some 100,000 tons of sanctioned crude oil from Russia, German customs seized the ship and confiscated the cargo in an unprecedented step in March 2025, theoretically transferring the ownership to the German state. That decision was contested in court. The court in Munich stated in December 2025 that ships may enter restricted areas, like German waters, if in distress, without being seized. The court suspended the measure. The fate of the oil on board will be decided in another courtcase.
On 11 April 2025, the Estonian Navy minehunter EML Admiral Cowan seized a flagless tanker pretending to be registered in Djibouti, the Kiwala, in the Baltic Sea. The vessel had been sanctioned by the EU and the UK, and was on its way to load oil in Ust-Luga. The Kiwala was released on 28 April.
On 10 May, after unidentified drones were spotted over a military site in Kiel, German authorities asked the Netherlands Coastguard to look out for the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged freighter Dolphin, manned by an all-Russian crew. The vessel was in effect stopped and searched by the Dutch authorities who found no evidence that drones were operated from the ship.
On 13 May, the Estonian Navy's patrol vessel EML Raju escorted the Gabonese-flagged tanker Jaguar out of Estonia's territorial waters, supported by AugustaWestland AW139 helicopters, M-28 Skytruck aircraft and a Polish MiG 29. A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter violated Estonia´s airspace the same day. Portuguese F-16s from NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission responded to the incident with a reconnaissance flight.
On 17 May, while shadowing the Russian-crewed freighter Luga in the German Exclusive Economic Zone, unidentified drones overflown the German Federal Coast Guard patrol boat Potsdam for three hours before entering Dutch waters. The Luga was eventually searched by Belgian authorities, who didn't find any traces of drone activity.
On 21 May, a shadow fleet tanker, the Sun, waving the Antigua and Barbuda flag, was spotted sailing around an undersea 600-megawatt power line linking Sweden and Poland. The vessel was scared off by a Polish aerial patrol, and later the area was sweeped by the Polish research ship ORP Heweliusz.
On 16 June, for the first time, the Russian Navy began to escort shadow fleet tankers in convoys, when the Selva and the Sierra, both of them under UK and EU sanctions. The ships, guarded by the Project 20380 Steregushchiy–class missile corvette Boykiy were tracked heading to load oil at Russian ports. The convoy transited through the English Channel on 22 June.
On 7 September, German Special Police forces seized and searched the Russian-crewed coaster Scanlark in the Kiel Canal. The vessel was suspected of operating a spy drone that overflew a German Navy warship on 26 August. The ship was owned by the Estonian company Vista Shipping Agency and registered under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
On 30 September, French naval forces seized the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker Boracay, hoisting the flag of Benin by Saint Nazaire. The ship was suspected of being one of three tankers which launched drones over Denmark between 22 and 28 September, disrupting Copenhagen Airport operations. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident "an act of piracy". French authorities later determined that the tanker was the Kiwala, seized by the Estonian Navy back in April. Two Chinese crewmembers – the captain and his first mate – were put under custody. The tanker was released five days later along with the crewmembers.
On 20 November, the American destroyer USS Stockdale intercepted the Comorian-flagged tanker Seahorse, a sanctioned Russian shadow fleet ship sailing in the Caribbean Sea towards Venezuela. The Russian vessel was forced to shift course to Cuba.
On 31 December, a Finnish coastguard vessel, supported by helicopters and special troops, captured the St. Vincent and the Grenadines flagged freighter Fitburg, bound to Haifa from St. Petersburg. The ship, which was carrying structural steel, a good whose importation is sanctioned by the EU, was suspected of damaging two undersea cables linking Estonia and Finland. Two crewmembers were arrested by the Finnish police.
On 7 January 2026, the US Navy and the US Coast Guard seized the Russian flagged tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic, after being shadowed by the patrol vessel USCG Munro for several weeks. The tanker has previously bore the name Bella I and hoisted the flag of Guyana.
On 22 January, the French Navy seized in the Alboran Sea the UK-sanctioned, Comorian-flagged tanker Grinch, during an operation led by a Horizon-class frigate and monitored by the British patrol boat HMS Dagger. Naval commandos transported by two NH90 helicopters boarded the ship. The tanker had departed from Murmansk on 5 January. French president Emmanuel Macron said that "We will not tolerate any violation," "The activities of the 'shadow fleet' contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine". Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky thanked Emmanuel Macron, and declared that "This is exactly the kind of resolve needed to ensure that Russian oil no longer finances Russia's war".