In March, the British coastguard spotted something suspicious about a hundred kilometres off the Scottish coastline: a dark patch 23 kilometres long stretching towards the North Atlantic.
Unpunished evil grows stronger
Coastguard satellite imagery showed that the likely source of the slick was the tanker Innova, which was carrying 1 million barrels of sanctioned oil from Russia to a refinery in India. However, the Coast Guard did not investigate further, and the tanker continues to trade oil, helping to finance the Kremlin’s military actions more than two years after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Innova is one of hundreds of shadow fleet vessels that violate Western sanctions and cause environmental damage without repercussions.
According to a joint investigation by POLITICO and the non-profit journalism group SourceMaterial, using SkyTruth satellite imagery and shipping data from Lloyd’s and the Kpler commodity platform, there have been at least nine spills from hidden shadow fleet vessels since 2021. Sweden’s Foreign Minister has noted that these vessels pose a ‘significant danger’ to the marine environment, as evidenced by the reported incidents.
This problem has become more acute after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. FACT has already written that, despite Western sanctions, the number of Russian tankers carrying smuggled oil and threatening the environment is growing. These vessels are usually old, unregulated and uninsured, making them difficult to prosecute in the event of an oil spill.
The dark fleet is an accident waiting to happen
The current situation creates a global dilemma: how can the civilised world reduce Moscow’s revenues while avoiding catastrophic consequences? When the West first imposed sanctions on Russian oil in 2022, its goal was to bleed the Russian economy, which generates almost half of its budget from fossil fuel exports.
But two years later, these measures, including a ban on imports to the European Union and an oil price cap imposed by the Group of Seven, have proved ineffective as Moscow has found ways to circumvent the sanctions. Russia conceals the origin of crude oil by relabelling it and has organised an ever-growing fleet of more than 600 vessels, often owned by shell companies. They are using this to circumvent the $60 per barrel price cap imposed by the G7, similar to what Iran and Venezuela did in a similar situation.
‘So far, the price cap has proved to be a very volatile tool,’ said a shipping analyst and shadow fleet expert at Lloyd’s List.
According to CREA, a non-profit energy and clean air research organisation, approximately 4/5 of Moscow’s marine oil was transported by vessels that were not under Western control. At the same time, the number of shadow fleet vessels has more than tripled since the start of the full-scale invasion. Illegal cash flows continue to flow into the state budget of the aggressor country. The CREA think tank found that Moscow’s shadow fleet had transported €80 billion worth of crude oil by September after the G7 imposed price caps two years ago.
According to Lloyd’s list, 4/5 of the vessels do not have reliable insurance. This means they cannot provide financial liability in the event of an accident or incident. This makes them less attractive to international oversight and regulation, as they can avoid liability. When tankers switch off their transponders or transmit false location data – i.e. use spoofing techniques – this allows them to evade oversight and regulation, increasing the risk to safety and the environment.
Oil spills result in high costs for coastal states and their taxpayers because vessel owners are often impossible to locate and hold accountable. Without the ability to determine who is responsible for the incident, the costs of clean-up and restoration fall on states and their citizens.
If a captain loses control of a ship, it can block important trade routes, such as the Suez Canal. According to a marine pollution researcher from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, this threatens local flora and fauna. Spills can harm marine life, make food such as shellfish toxic and prevent fish from reproducing.
In addition, the risk of collisions between shadowy fleet vessels is becoming increasingly apparent. In July, one of the smuggling ships collided with another tanker in Malaysian waters, causing a fire on both vessels.
The routes of pirate ships often run along the west coast of the United States, pass through the Mediterranean, split the English Channel and approach the Chinese coastline.
A spot that can be seen from space
Satellite images prove that small accidents are already happening around the world, often going unnoticed by the authorities. One such incident occurred with the Innova in March, six days after it left the port of Murmansk, when satellites detected a long black spot on the sea surface. The presence of the vessel at the time of the spot’s appearance was proved by transponder signals.
According to the marine engineer and CEO of the shipping company DYNAMARINe, such spots are often the result of the release of sludge, an oily water mixture that is formed during the ship’s operation. The fact that the slick can be seen from space is an additional indication of the presence of oil.
This precedent illustrates a widespread problem when ships not only violate international standards but also pollute the oceans.
According to a maritime lawyer from Holland & Knight, deliberately dumping used oil into the sea is illegal under MARPOL, an international agreement aimed at limiting pollution from maritime transport, which Moscow, among others, once signed.
It’s a ticking time bomb
Experts believe that the likelihood that sooner or later one of these ships will suffer a disaster with serious environmental and economic consequences is more than real. ‘The oil spills and the risk of slicks are terrifying,’ said the head of Euro-Russia and an expert on the shadow fleet at the Centre for Energy and Clean Air Research. ‘In addition to environmental damage, some of which will be irreversible, there is a huge impact on coastal states that have to bear the cost of clean-up.’
This underscores the seriousness of the problem, which not only causes environmental damage but also creates significant financial and environmental costs for countries close to spill sites. These incidents highlight the need for more effective monitoring and control of the shadow fleet to prevent further spills and reduce the negative impact on the environment and the economies of coastal countries.
Tatiana Morarash
