In the waters of the Baltic Sea there are more than 400 Russian oil ships that have escaped the radar, freeing themselves from Western control over Putin’s black gold, observing Europe’s borders from afar and leaving only traces of their trajectory: black trails of oil in the sea. I am “shadow fleet” and all of them are on the NATO blacklist, all of them are subject to sanctions, but it is difficult to send them back and they pose a real threat to all countries bordering the Baltic waters and to the entire planet.
Shadow Fleet
The Shadow Fleet is one of the greatest mysteries of the contemporary world. These are 444 oil ships that are uninsured and whose ownership is in doubt: the only thing that is known is that they are Russian and that Moscow has swiftly used them to evade Western, EU and US sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The ships sail with fake companies listed as their owners, they rarely carry insurance documents and, sometimes, they travel with fake official documents. The European Union has identified and sanctioned 544 vessels, while the UK has 450 vessels. But according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, an important maritime data and analysis service, the number would be much higher: there would be around 1,300 ships plying Baltic waters and transporting illegal crude oil under our noses.
Although this is impossible, it is through these ships that Russian crude oil is transported illegally and without control. The existence of this fleet is the greatest demonstration of how difficult it is to reduce Putin’s expansionist goals (although the gradual abandonment of the Russian oil market and new sanctions, as well as Ukraine’s attacks on refineries, do make it difficult to stabilize Moscow’s economy).
Baltic Sea Pollution
These boats not only cause damage on a geopolitical level, but also on an environmental level. According to joint research carried out by the non-profit journalism group SourceMaterial and politicians, in the past year alone at least five people have lost large amounts of oil in the waters of the Baltic Sea in the past year, while sailing freely, evading sanctions. Therefore, the problem is also related to the environment. In fact, these ships are outdated oil tankers, which, precisely because of their pollution potential, should not ply any ocean waters. Two of them were individually approved by the British, but, as is often the case in Russia, they still managed to find a solution to continue sailing.
Poor maintenance conditions and dilapidation make it very sensitive to damage or accidents (highly polluting). In November 2024, for example, a 12 km long oil spill was detected in Spain’s Bay of Biscay, which appeared to originate from a (sanctioned) oil tanker traveling from India to Primorsk, Russia. But who bears the costs of cleaning up the sea after this accident, if ownership is in doubt and the responsible party cannot be identified? The answer is very simple: European taxpayers.
Missing soldiers in uniform and documents
Western governments, starting from this neglect of the sea, are in great trouble. Shadow fleets are difficult to control and keep tensions high in these countries. The investigative site Dan Watch reports the testimony of a Danish water veteran, former Navy soldier and currently responsible for safe navigation in Danish waters Bjarne Cæsar Skinnerup. “Many of my colleagues have now seen men wearing Russian naval camouflage uniforms on Dark Fleet ships,” he said. “Seeing men in guard uniforms can be scary. If they were just wearing civilian clothes, you wouldn’t notice them. I guess it’s part of their tactic to show up. Not just from us visiting, but also from the crew, so we don’t dare do anything the Russians don’t want.” An ad hoc attitude that would intimidate the Danish fleet. As part of Operation Baltic Sentry, authorities identified the ships, asking them to produce insurance documents but, as Skinnerup and Danwatch previously revealed, fraud was rampant. These documents were either randomly lost before being sent, or were highly manipulated forgeries.
Threats to Poland, Estonia and Lithuania
Removing these illegal vessels from European waters has become a matter of urgency for NATO, especially for countries bordering the Baltic Sea. “We must continue to put pressure on Russia: sanctions have worked and must be strengthened, Russia’s economic situation continues to worsen. We also ask that the implementation of sanctions against the ships of the shadow fleet be implemented immediately,” said the Latvian Minister, Baiba Braze, yesterday in Brussels, at a meeting of EU Foreign Ministries. These countries suffered greatly from Russia’s influence: the Baltic region was among the most tense in this period, with Russian drones violating national airspace and military spy ships peering directly over the borders. Having waters full of shadow ships would only exacerbate the climate of tension.
Kallas said
Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, returned to this topic on the same occasion to return what is now the EU’s “priority” to the center of media attention. “Pursuing Russia’s shadow fleet remains a priority, and we have had intense discussions about what more we can do. The EU has sanctioned more than 550 ships, and we have held extensive diplomatic talks with the flag states that register these ships. We now aim to enter into pre-boarding agreements with these states. This is a legal way to board and search ships from other countries. Slowing down the shadow fleet is detrimental to Russia’s revenues. Therefore, we will work to impose greater sanctions on the shadow fleet, both ships as well as the facilitator,” he said. “We also discussed – he continued – whether we could be more effective in taking steps forward, not always focusing on large packages, but for example on the shadow fleet. Russia is very creative and we should be too.” We need to be “more agile”, concluded Kallas. And Italian support is not lacking. “I am pro-European and just as sanctions are decided together, so also any other type of intervention against the shadow fleet we must work together, in coordination”, added Italian Minister Antonio Tajani at the end of the meeting.
What are sanctions actually for?
“Russia’s crude oil exports are at their lowest level in recent months. Russia’s oil tax revenues are the lowest since the start of the war. Sanctions are being implemented on Russia. And there will be more to come,” Kallas said. However, for this strategy to be truly effective, the shadow fleet must be stopped. By ignoring sanctions, these ships allow Moscow to continue its oil trade undeterred, with consequences that impact the world situation. The choice to sanction Russia after its invasion of Ukraine served not only economic purposes, but also defensive ones: if revenues from crude oil exports plummeted and the Kremlin no longer had the money to finance war spending, it would be forced to scale back its dreams of doing so. or further reduce civilian well-being, which has adverse consequences for Russian society and consensus.
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