The growing shadow fleet of tankers transporting sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan, and Russian oil is posing a setback to the global shipping industry’s efforts to use cleaner fuel and reduce emissions. These vessels, which are hard to track due to opaque ownership structures and the use of non-Western services, are instead opting for the cheapest fuel available, hindering the industry’s push towards greener operations.
The global shipping sector is under increasing pressure to adopt cleaner fuels and meet broader environmental targets. However, hundreds of tankers transporting sanctioned oil have little incentive to follow these cleaner shipping standards, as they operate outside Western jurisdiction.
“You’re seeing greater numbers of ships that have found ways to circumvent sanctions by operating outside Western jurisdiction,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, principal analyst with maritime data group Lloyd’s List Intelligence. “The dark fleet has gone on steroids. And the deceptive shipping practices that they’re engaging in are getting more and more complex and sophisticated.”
These practices include dangerous ship-to-ship transfers of oil in international waters, falsifying ship identification numbers, and using flag registries with lower standards of technical oversight and expertise. Lloyd’s List Intelligence estimates the shadow fleet has grown from around 530 tankers a year ago to approximately 630 tankers, making up 14.5% of the overall global tanker fleet.
Some industry estimates put the number even higher, at over 800 tankers. This rapid expansion, driven by the Western curbs on Russian energy exports following the invasion of Ukraine, has raised concerns about the environmental impact, as well as the effectiveness of sanctions, including the $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil.
The surge in the shadow fleet’s use of cheap, high-sulphur fuel undermines the shipping industry’s efforts to comply with the IMO 2020 convention, which requires vessels to switch to low-sulphur fuel to reduce emissions.