The Shadow Fleet

[Kirkhill]

BBC Verify: Tracking shows eight sanctioned Russian tankers currently in English Channel

Latest updates from the BBC's specialists in fact-checking, verifying video and tackling disinformation.

www.bbc.com

I thought it was wothwhile concentrating Shadow Fleet operations in one place

 

[Kirkhill]

Y

Post in thread 'Russia in the 21st Century [Superthread]'

22 Jan 2026

I don't get why more countries aren't catching shadow fleet ships. They are massive environmental risks. And they are free oil money. And they hurt Russia. What's the downside here?

• ytz

• 

Post in thread 'CRINK - The Rise of Eurasia'

23 Jan 2026

Early dark fleet leader quits shipping - Splash247

Radiating World Services, one of the more recognisable names linked to the so-called dark fleet, has exited VesselsValue’s fleet database. A vessel most closely associated with the outfit has meanwhile changed hands twice in short order. The ship in question is the 2006-built LR2 tanker Eastern...

splash247.com

I am starting to see this Dark Fleet/Shadow Fleet as CRINK's navy, as a fleet of modern Q-ships analogous to Putin's "Little Green Men". A fleet of blockade runners and sanction busters that support commercial endeavours; that transport little green men, wolf warriors and IRGC; that conduct espionage and sabotage; that support criminal activity like drug running and insurgencies; and, given what can be packed into a container these days, a military threat.

Treating them all like pirates and taking them off the seas...

• Kirkhill