Because of Western sanctions, Russia sends its oil around the world on rusty shadow tankers. Now the countries bordering the Baltic Sea are warning of an oil spill and are stepping up controls.
Sweden and Finland are increasingly warning about the dangers of the fleet of rusty tankers that pass their coastal waters every day loaded with Russian oil. Russia appears to be prepared to accept “ecological devastation” caused by the unseaworthy tankers, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told the British
Guardian
. During a visit to London this week, Billström called for new rules for dealing with the tankers and mechanisms for enforcing them. The aim must be to prevent an environmental catastrophe caused by the Russian shadow fleet.
A few days ago, the Finnish border guards also warned of an oil spill from the fleet of so-called ghost tankers. According to this, 70 of these ships, each with around 100,000 tons of crude oil on board, pass through the Gulf of Finland every week after being loaded in Russian Baltic Sea ports such as Ust-Luga. The ships sail past the coasts of Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Denmark until they reach the open sea. According to
the Guardian,
around half of Russian oil exports take
the route through the Baltic Sea. Later, the sensitive cargo is often reloaded at sea - for example in the Mediterranean south of Greece - in order to conceal the origin of the oil.
Russia is using shadow tankers to circumvent Western sanctions
The Baltic Sea neighbors hardly have any concrete information about the tankers because they are not allowed to call at EU ports because of the sanctions. Many also switch off their signals and are therefore difficult to locate. According to its own statements, the Finnish border guard has already increased surveillance of the transit area. Two weeks ago, the foreign ministers of the Nordic-Baltic Eight cooperation forum (NB8) - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden - discussed, among other things, the question of how to do so at a meeting on the Swedish island of Gotland the ailing Russian fleet had to be dealt with.
“We will all be affected if there is a major problem with a collision or an oil leak from one of these ships,” Billström said in the interview. Sweden has already begun increasing its military presence on Gotland, strategically located in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Since the country joined NATO, all states on the Baltic Sea coast have been members of the alliance, with the exception of Russia.
Because of the Ukraine war: Dubious oil traders and rusty ships transport Russian crude oil
Nevertheless, the ghost ships are making their way through the “Nato Sea” on behalf of Russia, and their cargo is pouring large amounts of money into President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. The ghost fleet emerged after the EU and G-7 nations banned insurance for Russian ships and their loaded crude oil as a result of Russia's attack on Ukraine in February 2022, provided the price of the oil was above their oil price cap of $60 per barrel lies. As a result, there are hardly any reputable shipping companies or oil traders that handle Russian oil anymore. Instead, since 2022, oil traders have observed the purchase of hundreds of old tankers by obscure or unnamed buyers.
Since the start of the war, 400 oil tankers have crossed over to the “dark side,” says Elisabeth Braw, an expert on gray zone tactics at the Atlantic Council. That's around 20 percent of the entire global tanker fleet, she writes, citing the oil trading company Trafigura. These tankers also transported oil for other sanctioned states such as Iran and North Korea. They are all at least 20 years old.
So an ever-growing fleet of ancient tankers sails the world's oceans to transport Russian oil to those who still want it. So for example to India and China. Russia's oil exports to India have increased rapidly since the start of the war. And in 2023, Russia will also become China's largest oil supplier. According to Chinese customs data, Moscow delivered a record 107 million tons of crude oil to the People's Republic last year. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Nowak said in December that virtually all of Russia's crude oil exports in 2023 went to China and India.
Old tankers are traveling time bombs
Expert Braw sees these tankers as the epitome of hybrid warfare: state-directed aggression below the threshold of armed military force. The fleet causes damage that the affected countries can hardly punish. According to a report in the
Financial Times,
Russian ships in Danish waters now regularly refuse pilotage services, which increases the risk of accidents. Denmark cannot block such ships without violating international maritime rules.
According to Elisabeth Braw, the owners of the shadow tankers conceal their identity through complex arrangements. Many of these “shipping companies” are new and don’t even have an address. New tankers were not worth it for them. Since the ships operate outside the established maritime structures, they are not maintained, said Braw. In a sense, the tankers are a traveling time bomb: the older they get, the more likely accidents or oil leaks become. It is understandable that the Baltic Sea states are worried.