EU, UK Agree New Crackdown on 'Shadow Fleet' Carrying Russian Oil

Forty-four European countries including the United Kingdom plus the European Union have agreed to work together to keep an alleged “shadow fleet” of oil tankers transporting Russian oil out of the seas.

London, which spearheaded the “call to action”, announced the agreement ahead of a rare address before the UK Cabinet on Friday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which the new government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to assure Kyiv of a fiercer stranglehold on Moscow’s war machine.

The “shadow fleet” comprises about 600 vessels representing around 10 percent of global wet shipping, Downing Street said in a statement Thursday.

“It carries approximately 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, generating significant funds to fuel Russia’s war machine”, the prime minister’s office added.

“Some of the ships are also alleged to double as Russian listening stations, while others are believed to be transporting weaponry to Russia”.

The UK on Thursday also placed sanctions on several ships carrying Russian oil. One vessel, identified as the Rocky Runner, had sought to evade previous UK action by changing its operator, the statement said.

Russia’s “dark fleet” of oil tankers “are often old and unsafe, and engage in dangerous and deceptive shipping practices, such as turning off location tracking systems, which flouts international maritime standards, and increases the likelihood of catastrophic incidents”, Starmer’s office said.

Last month the UK issued its first sanctions on Russia’s purported shadow fleet. This cohort of oil shipping entities, part of other sanctions designations by the UK against Russia that were announced June 13, consisted of four vessels. Two other vessels were designated for shipping weapons to Russia, while six companies, including one identified to be based in Singapore, were also sanctioned for “supporting the Russian liquefied natural gas sector”. One ship managing company was also on the list.

“Russia’s oil exports are Putin’s most critical revenue source for funding his illegal war in Ukraine”, the prime minister’s office, then under Rishi Sunak, said in a statement. “Tax on oil production collected by the Kremlin in 2023 amounted to 8.9 trillion robles, or 31 percent of Russia’s total federal revenues.

“Today’s sanctions aim to disrupt and increase the costs of Russia’s efforts to bypass UK and G7 sanctions through its shadow fleet”. 

As part of efforts to deprive Russia of funds that it could use in its war in Ukraine, price caps on Russian oil have been enforced by the Group of Seven (G7), including the European Union, and Australia since December 5, 2022. The caps started at $60 a barrel for Russian crude before expanding to include refined products with limits of up to $100 per barrel. The caps for refined petroleum products took effect February 5, 2023.

In Thursday’s statement, Downing Street added that the oil tankers sanctioned last month have carried about 13 million barrels of Russian crude and oil products, worth approximately $930 million, since January.

Rare Cabinet Address

Meanwhile, in Zelenskyy’s meeting with the UK Cabinet, Starmer is expected to tell his visitor “that the UK will go further in the coming months to place a greater stranglehold on Putin’s war machine”, the statement said.

Zelenskyy’s address before the UK Cabinet would be the first for a foreign leader in nearly three decades after United States President Bill Clinton in 1997, according to Downing Street. Zelenskyy would also be Downing Street’s first official visitor under the new Labor administration.

The two leaders are also set to agree on a defense export treaty, which would “fire up both the UK’s and Ukraine’s defense industrial bases and increase military hardware and weaponry production”, the statement said.

“The treaty will enable Ukraine to draw on £3.5 billion [$4.5 billion] of export finance, to support its armed forces”, it added.

Starmer said in the statement, “Ukraine is, and always will be, at the heart of this government’s agenda and so it is only fitting that President Zelenskyy will make a historic address to my Cabinet”.

“Russia’s incremental gains on the battlefield are nothing compared with the collective international support for Ukraine, or the strength of ties between our people”, the prime minister added.

“And alongside our European partners, we have sent a clear message to those enabling Putin’s attempts to evade sanctions: we will not allow Russia’s shadow fleet, and the dirty money it generates, to flow freely through European waters and put our security at risk”.

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