Our badass president to the very last day...
... Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the role played by tankers smuggling Russian oil for export has drawn renewed attention. This has led to growing concerns about the geopolitical impacts of such fleets, their significance with regards to sanctions' enforcement and efficacy, and the safety and security risks they create. Indeed, as 'dark' vessels use deceptive practices and are often constituted of ageing vessels, they "present a serious threat to maritime security, safety and the marine environment“.[1]: 310 The International Maritime Organization signaled its desire to create new enforcement mechanisms against grey ships signing a resolution which defined the term 'dark' ship for the first time in October 2023. It noted that:
a fleet of between 300 and 600 tankers primarily comprised of older ships, including some not inspected recently, having substandard maintenance, unclear ownership and a severe lack of insurance, was currently operated as a 'dark fleet' or 'shadow fleet' to circumvent sanctions and high insurance costs.
— IMO, Addressing ship-to-ship oil transfers and tankers in the “dark fleet”, 110th session of the Legal Committee (April 2023)[2]
Practices/Techniques
Various techniques are employed by shadow fleets in order to mask the identity of the vessels, their destination and origin points, or to fabricate paperwork for trading purposes. Such techniques are often used in a layered and complex manner making enforcement more difficult and generating additional compliance costs and risk for private companies across the maritime supply chain. Oftentimes, those practices exploit legal flaws in the IMO registration and transmission requirements, insurance loopholes, and the lack of cooperation between geopolitical adversaries.
Automatic Identification System manipulation
Automatic identification system or AIS is an IMO-mandated transponder aboard all registered vessels which transmits the identity and location of ships. This is publicly accessible data. The technology allows data-tracking for ships on the high seas, and underpins the system as both a "regulatory weapon and compliance shield".Yet its limitations have been exploited thoroughly by sanction busting actors.[3]: 248 Because of the voluntary nature of the system, AIS-data transmission can be turned off, allowing for ships to ‘disappear’ when engaging in illegal or illicit activities.
Sanction enforcement can counter such practices by including AIS switch-off clauses in insurance contract. They can also track the AIS switch offs with satellite imagery or Artificial intelligence to track suspicious ships.[3] However, the system allows for plausible deniability, as for example the transponder could have been switched off for security reasons, or due to power-outages on board.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_fleet
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