UK, Denmark vow to ‘disrupt and deter’ Russia’s shadow fleet

EU authorities will now demand papers from ageing oil tankers which may pose an environmental threat, and help Russian President Vladimir Putin fund his war, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on Tuesday. 

The remarks come just a week after the EU imposed new sanctions on around 50 ships that Moscow is believed to be using to evade western price caps on crude oil exports.  

“Yesterday we decided together … to do more to disrupt and deter Russia’s shadow fleet,” Michal told reporters after a two-day meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a grouping of ten Ukraine-supporting nations, in Tallinn.

Six key countries – the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland and Estonia – “will ask suspected shadow fleet vessels for proof of insurance” as they pass through bodies of water such as the English Channel and Danish Strait, Michal said.

“If the vessels choose not to respond to our requests, their actions will be assessed and addressed in coordination with our international partners,” he said, adding: “We remain determined to weaken Putin’s war machine and cut off his sources of revenue.” 

Western allies want to stop Moscow using lucractive exports to prop up its war economy, and have prohibited their own companies from offering services such as insurance or financing to ships that offer crude oil over an agreed price cap of $60 (€57) per barrel.  

It’s just one of a number of measures designed to punish Putin for his 2022 fullscale invasion of Ukraine.

But there’s widespread concern that Russia is circumventing restrictions using a network of ageing, often uninsured ships, whose poor condition could lead to oil spills or other disasters.

The ships, often using flags of convenience from the likes of Panama or Liberia, have also been accused turning off transponders to effectively become invisible, and of using underhand tactics to conceal cargo origins.

Michal’s remarks come as officials confirmed two Russian tankers were damaged during a storm in the Kerch Strait on Sunday, spilling an estimated 3,700 tonnes of oil, some of which washed up onto the Russian coast.