Business is booming, the environment is trembling Putin is expanding his "shadow fleet" and delivering oil wherever he wants
Despite international sanctions, trade in Russian oil is flourishing. Putin is increasingly relying on so-called "shadow tankers". Experts warn of an imminent oil catastrophe.
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- Russia continues to sell oil despite international sanctions.
- To do so, the Kremlin relies on a so-called "shadow fleet" of old tankers.
- These tankers are constantly being renamed and sail under different flags. The aim is to disguise the origin of the oil.
- Experts warn that the poorly maintained ships pose a danger to the environment and threaten an oil spill.
As theNew York Timesreports, Russia is investing heavily in the expansion of its so-called "shadow fleet". This is a collection of old, often poorly maintained tankers that are constantly being renamed and sail under different flags.
As the Danish investigative media outlet "Danwatch" and the German "ZDF" reported back in the spring, these tankers also manipulate ship data and have Russian oil pumped from one ship to another on the open sea in so-called "ship-to-ship transfers". All of this is done to disguise the origin of the oil, which often ends up in Western countries after being sold on to countries such as China, India or Turkey.
Russia has been circumventing international sanctions in the oil business in this way for years. As the New York Times now reports, this fleet is growing rapidly. Putin is said to have invested around 10 billion dollars in the expansion of his "shadow fleet" in recent years. Almost 70 percent of the Russian oil that is transported by ship is now said to be carried by these tankers.
Major oil spill "imminent"
According to the Institute of the Kyiv School of Economics, this greatly increases the chance of a major oil spill. "There have been several cases in recent months in which shadow tankers were involved in collisions or almost ran aground," the New York Times quotes from a report by the institute. Major oil spills have been avoided so far, but a major disaster is "imminent", according to the report.
Martin Lidegaard, leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party, has also described the tankers as "ticking time bombs". According to "Danwatch", many of the ships are outdated, poorly maintained and riddled with rust.
The Kiev-based institute is urging Western countries to take action against the circumvention of Russian sanctions by setting up so-called "shadow-free" zones. More comprehensive and verifiable regulations are to be demanded of ships in these zones and sanctions can be extended in the event of violations. In addition, ships that violate the rules should be able to be stopped in international waters.
Sanctions still a success?
Meanwhile, the US government is in a dilemma. It should actually be pushing for the sanctions to be enforced more strictly. However, due to the upcoming presidential elections, politicians are currently keeping a low profile.
Although they want to weaken the Russian economy, they also want to secure the oil supply and thus prevent petrol prices from skyrocketing before the elections. They are therefore reluctant to take tougher measures against the "shadow fleet", writes the New York Times.
A US official, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the newspaper that it is not surprising that Putin has found ways to circumvent the sanctions. But the fact that Russian oil prices remain low compared to other countries and Putin has had to spend billions to get around the cap makes the sanctions a success nonetheless, he said.
