The Russian Ghost Fleet is a fleet of ships which are selling Russian oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the world's markets by circumventing regulations on maritime transit and sanctions. The fleet is a tool of the Russian government to gain money and support it troops and proxies. Vortexa estimated that Russian tankers are transferring about one million barrels per month of Russian oil by ship-to-ship transfers only in the Aegean Sea off Greece. The Russian ghost fleet is estimated numbering 1,400 ships at sea.
| Date | 2021–present |
|---|---|
| Location | International, largely in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Coast of Levanthe |
| Also known as |
|
| Cause | Sanctions by US and Europe against Russia |
| Motive | gaining Euro and US-Dollar, provide own and proxy troops with arnament |
| Outcome |
|
Sparta IV case
editThe case of the Russian cargo ship Sparta IV (IMO number: 9743033) illustrated how Russia is using its ghost fleet to supply allies and own troops with weapons. Sparta IV, declared as a commercial vessel, got known for transporting armaments between Russia and Syria. In May 2024 it has utilized a route via Gibraltar to avoid the threat posed by Ukrainian maritime drones, circumventing the Black Sea.[1][2]
Fleet
editSome experts estimate that Russian company Sovcomflot had bought about 2,000 tankers since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.[3]
The Financial Times reported that shipping companies with ties to Russia have bought dozens of ships. These companies are often based in the United Arab Emirates. The ships often sail under the flags of Cameroon, Panama, Liberia, Gabon or a Pacific island state.[3][4]
U.S oil giant ExxonMobil had chartered one of the tankers the U.S. imposed sanctions on, the Aframax Yasa Golden Bosphorus (IMO number: 9334038). In April 2024 the US Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Yasa Golden Bosporus after six months after it was designated for allegedly breaching the G7 price cap on Russian oil shipments.[5]
Known fleet
editRussia had an enormous fleet of tankers by 2022, when the recent sanctions started. The ships of the ghost fleet are old.[6]
In late November 2024 the German frigate Nordrhein-Westfalen was patrolling in the Baltic Sea and encountered a Russian group consisting of a tanker and a corvette, potentially breaking the sanctions. When one of its Sea Lynx helicopters was sent to inspect the vessels more closely, the Russian warship crew responded with five red flares instead of routine radio communication. The incident became public when German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock mentioned the act of aggression at a NATO meeting a week later.[7]
Ship to ship transfers
editAs of 2023, the Laconian Gulf in the far south of Greece was considered a popular transshipment point for Russian oil. The preferred location for STS transfers had been until then the Messenian Gulf but that changed when the government in 2021 extended its territorial waters 12 miles (19 km) into that gulf.[8] In June 2023 a detailed study was published by Geollect on STS transfers by Russian vessels.[9] Reuters reported that cargoes were loaded in Russia’s Black Sea ports of Taman and Tuapse for transshipment to other ships in the northern Aegean Sea. In April 2024 a meticulous study followed the MV Ligera as it received from the MV Nautilus a shipment of oil from the Baltic Port of Ust-Luga, and then a shipment of oil on MV Blue from the Port of Novorossyisk on the Black Sea.[10]
Vortexa estimated that the tankers are transferring about one million barrels per month of Russian oil in the Aegean Sea off Greece.[11]
In early May 2024 the Russian "base" had moved south to the western shore of Kythira.[12] The Greek navy had exercised nearby in the same waters and this sent a signal that the Russians were unwelcome in the Laconian Gulf,[8][13][14] but by 20 May at least seven tankers returned when the naval exercises ended.[15] In June 2024 Greece government said, the Hellenic Navy will interrupt ship-to-ship transfers in hellenic waters. These notices sent Russian-trading tankers to new locations in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and off West Africa.[16] By June 2024 the STS transfers moved to offshore Morocco,[17] near the city of Nador at the eastern end of the nation's Mediterranean coast, but another report had this oil originating in Primorsk.
Environmental risk
editBy turning off their automatic identification system (AIS), traveling at night without radars and monitor satellites, the risk of an incident is much higher. Insurance in the event of collisions, environmental damage or attacks is mandatory for commercial vessels. At least 90 percent of this insurance market is covered by providers from the European Union or United Kingdom - countries that are no longer allowed to insure Russian ships due to the sanctions.
EU-MPs were warning in November 2024: "The question is not if - but when - an environmental disaster will take place in the Baltic Sea."[18]
References
edit- ^ "The Strange Case of the Sparta IV". ItaMilRadar. 2024-05-17. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ "As Russia's "Syrian Express" Takes the Long Way Home, NATO is Watching". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ a b "Putins Geisterflotte bedroht Deutschland – So schmuggelt Russland sein Öl um die Welt". t-online (in German). 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Stephanowitz, Johann (2024-08-28). "Russland: Geheime Tanker – Wie Putins Geisterflotte Sanktionen umschifft". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-03.
- ^ "US lifts sanctions on Türkiye-owned Yasa tanker". Lloyd's List. 2024-04-29. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Scherman, Lena (2024-04-30). "Ghost Ships Oil the Russian War Machine". Deep Sea Reporter. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
- ^ "Report: Russian Vessel Shot Signal Flare at German Helicopter". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ a b "Greek navy extends war games exclusion at notorious Russian oil transfer hotspot". 9 May 2024.
- ^ "The Laconian Gulf and Russian Oil". 6 June 2023.
- ^ "The case of LIGERA: Unveiling sanctioned Russian oil's global journey".
- ^ Dixon, Gary (2024-11-25). "Tankers transferring 1m barrels per month of Russian oil off Greece". TradeWinds. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ ""Reasons Unknown": Floating Russian Oil Base off Greece Abruptly Shifts South". 5 May 2024.
- ^ "Greece Tightens Grip on Laconian Gulf: Naval Exclusion Zone Disrupts Russian Oil Transfers". 22 May 2024.
- ^ "Russia Has a New Hotspot for Ship-to-Ship Oil Transfers in the Mediterranean".
- ^ "Tankers Return to Greek Gulf to Switch Russian Oil as Drills End - BNN Bloomberg". 20 May 2024.
- ^ Dixon, Gary (2024-09-17). "Crackdown on Russia oil transfer hotspot extended by Greek navy". TradeWinds. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ "Russian Oil Finds New Site for Controversial Cargo Switching". 3 June 2024.
- ^ "Why are Russian 'shadow' oil tankers still sailing the Baltic Sea?". EUobserver. 2024-11-13. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
Further reading
edit- Borozna, Angela, and Lada V. Kochtcheeva. "Sanctions Busting: The Role of Various States in Russia’s Resistance to Sanctions." War by Other Means: Western Sanctions on Russia and Moscow’s Response. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. 81-105.