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

 

[Kirkhill]

Another oops!

Tanker with Russian oil products loses steering off Spanish coast

A Mozambique-flagged tanker with Russian oil is drifting off Almería's coast. Environmentalists are concerned about potential spills impacting marine life and tourism.

www.euronews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

More hybrid warfare

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/02/04/russia-shadow-fleet-europe-sanctions/

 

[ModlrMike]

With apologies to Stan Rogers:

Oh the year was 2026
How I wish I was in Kyiv now,
A letter of marque came from Vladmir
to all Ukrainians far and near

An Old Solution to a New Problem: Ukraine's Letter of Marque

One of the key components of the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to enact heavy sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, thus depriving the Russian war machine the money it needed to continue the invasion. There has been some success in...

www.dailykos.com

 

[YZT580]

With apologies to Stan Rogers:

Oh the year was 2026
How I wish I was in Kyiv now,
A letter of marque came from Vladmir
to all Ukrainians far and near

An Old Solution to a New Problem: Ukraine's Letter of Marque

One of the key components of the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to enact heavy sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, thus depriving the Russian war machine the money it needed to continue the invasion. There has been some success in...

www.dailykos.com

legitimize the Somalia people. They have the experience and the resources

 

[Kirkhill]

And another one's gone....

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-seizes-tanker-in-indian-ocean-after-weekslong-chase-from-caribbean-558649c2

 

[Kirkhill]

And India takes 3 Iranian tankers off the market.

India arrests three sanctioned Iran-linked tankers in operation to bust ‘oil-smuggling racket’

Coastguard said the operation was carried out west of Mumbai

www.tradewindsnews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Samsung Heavy Industries Cancels Tanker Linked to Sanctioned Manager

According to a stock exchange filing, Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries canceled the delivery of the first of two crude oil tankers just as the vessel...

maritime-executive.com

According to a stock exchange filing, Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries canceled the delivery of the first of two crude oil tankers just as the vessel was due to be delivered. It cites the “shipowner’s financial difficulties,” warning that the second vessel could also be revised, while the speculation is that these tankers were ordered as part of a network linked to shipping Iranian and Russian oil.

Now its new ships for sanctioned companies being halted.

 

[Kirkhill]

RN creating a centre to track the Shadow Fleet.

Royal Navy to get new surveillance base to track Russian shadow fleet vessels

The Navy has confirmed it is looking at siting the new base in the northeast, but declined to offer any more details

www.forcesnews.com

The Royal Navy is planning to create a new surveillance base to track suspect Russian ships using drones and uncrewed vessels.

The Navy has confirmed it is looking at siting the new base in the northeast, but declined to offer any more details.

....

In recent months, several tankers thought to belong to the shadow fleet have passed through the English Channel without being stopped.

One option the Royal Navy may be considering is the Rattler, a 7.2-metre-long autonomous vessel that resembles a rigid inflatable boat but is entirely uncrewed.

In an exercise at the end of last year, the maritime service remotely piloted five Rattlers in a swarm formation around HMS Tyne, with the River-class offshore patrol vessel playing the role of an enemy warship.

The trial took place off the coast of Scotland, but the Rattlers were controlled from the Navy's specialist technology trials ship, XV Patrick Blackett, based 500 miles away in Portsmouth.

 

[Kirkhill]

Sanctioned Russian tankers redirecting to Singapore from India.

Russian oil tankers list Singapore as destination amid sanctions, shift to China

Move comes as India is set ‌to ⁠scale back or halt Russian oil imports after a recent US trade deal left China as Russia’s main customer.

www.scmp.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Regular use of Danish waters by Russian shadow fleet.

Russia's 'shadow fleet' reported in Danish waters almost daily in 2025

Sailing from the Gulf of Finland and through the Baltic Sea, the ageing and poorly-maintained tankers mainly transport crude oil as well as refined products such as gasoline and diesel.

www.euronews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Iran too?

Apparently Malaysia is a major trans-shipment point.

The Era of Quiet Tolerance May Be Ending for Iran’s Dark Fleet

Explore Iran's shadow fleet and its resilient illicit trade amidst increasing U.S. enforcement and dwindling safe havens.

gcaptain.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Sanctioned shipowner blasts back at Indian smuggling claims after tanker arrests

Dubai-based Jugwinder Singh Brar says two of his ships were assisting a third that had run low on bunkers

www.tradewindsnews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

In 1940 and 41 Churchill's greatest concern was ships not making it to port, especially oil tankers.
Now Xi is running into a similar problem - only his are being pulled over instead of being sunk.

Police actions and insurance rates, as well as tariffs, are reducing his supply of tankers and oil. The effort is also impacting the revenue streams of his BRIC pals, Russia and Iran, and negatively impacting hangers on like Venezuela, Malaysia, flags of convenience and places like Cuba and South Africa that rely on imported oil.

By some estimates there are as many as 1400 to 1600 shadow fleet tankers out there operating outside both international maritime norms and the US dollar system. That has a significant impact on the reputations of both the BRICS countries and the US and its dollar.

The more BRICS is seen to be losing, suffering, the more the US, the Dollar, and the West at large, gain. BRICS becomes a less attractive investment propsition for those non-aligned countries that were considering backing it.

 

[Kirkhill]

United Kingdom Initiates Discussions on Confiscating Russia's Shadow Fleet Tankers

The United Kingdom and its European allies in the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force are considering confiscating ships belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet, regardless of their flag.This was reported by Bloomberg.The […]

militarnyi.com

The United Kingdom and its European allies in the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force are considering confiscating ships belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet, regardless of their flag.

....

The Combined Joint Expeditionary Force is a group of 10 countries (the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands), united by common commitments to the security of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

...

In January 2026, fourteen European countries issued a joint statement warning Russia that its shadow fleet tankers would no longer be able to operate freely in the Baltic Sea.

The document was signed by Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

 

[Kirkhill]

Sanctioned shipowner blasts back at Indian smuggling claims after tanker arrests

Dubai-based Jugwinder Singh Brar says two of his ships were assisting a third that had run low on bunkers

www.tradewindsnews.com

One thing strikes me: the size of these vessels. They are not VLCCs. They are not even the 800,000 barrel Aframaxes calling at Burnaby.

"The coastguard said this week that it had detained the 45,000-dwt Al Jafzia (built 1999), 16,800-dwt Asphalt Star (built 2007) and 6,200-dwt Stellar Ruby (built 2010) and taken them to Mumbai for investigation."

45,000 dwt is about 300,000 barrels of WCS, less than half an Aframax
16,800 is about 120,000 barrels
6200 is about 40,000 barrels. It is also about half of what Trudeau's tanker moratorium permits. That permits cargos of up to 12,500 tonnrs.


....

"The vessels are operated by companies controlled by Singh Brar, whose Prime Tankers and Glory International firms were sanctioned in April 2025 by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), which accused the fleet of 27 tankers of facilitating the transport of Iranian oil."

"Dubai-based shipowner Jugwinder Singh Brar says three of his tankers arrested by the Indian Coast Guard are innocent of oil smuggling."

The other thing of note is how often the tiny country shows up in world affairs these days. ~350,000 citizens with almost 4,000,000 "guest workers" in a country a bit bigger than Suffield and abit smaller than PEI.

And Singh Brar is a Sikh name.

 

[Kirkhill]

US military boards another oil tanker in Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean

The U.S. military says it's boarded another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean. The Pentagon said in a statement Sunday that U.S. forces boarded the Veronica III after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea.

apnews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Why the U.S. Coast Guard Stormed the Decks of an Oil Tanker Headed for China

A Coast Guard raid seized the tanker Skipper en route to China. The legal case hinges on false flagging, high-seas authority, and U.S. sanctions enforcement.

www.19fortyfive.com