Emma Bussey of Fox News reports that a global “dark fleet” of about 1,000 aging oil tankers secretly transporting sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan, and Russian crude has become a new target for the US and Ukraine, according to maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann. She warned that the poorly maintained, uninsured vessels pose major geopolitical, environmental, and safety risks, calling them a “billion-dollar oil spill catastrophe waiting to happen.” Recent US seizures of Venezuelan tankers and Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s shadow fleet signal a strategic shift to disrupt illicit oil revenues that fund sanctioned regimes and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Bussey writes:

A 1,000-strong “dark fleet” of rogue oil tankers skirting sanctions has emerged as a new target for the U.S. and Ukraine, a senior maritime intelligence analyst claims.

Michelle Wiese Bockmann warned the aging fleet poses geopolitical risks and threats of $1 billion oil spills, with the recent U.S. seizures in Venezuela and Ukrainian drone strikes in the Black Sea marking a turning point for both nations in their efforts.

“There are about 1,000 vessels worldwide that are trading sanctioned crude tankers containing sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan and Russian oil,” Bockmann told Fox News Digital. […]

“This is a brand-new problem for the U.S., and now Ukraine has signaled they are going to target these vessels the same way,” she said. “There is a new strategy to deal with this dark fleet, which is the lifeline of sanctioned oil revenues, and now under attack by the U.S. and Ukraine. The strategy is all to counter what we call gray-zone aggression.” […]

She said a subset of “about 350 to 400 vessels at any one time are not only sanctioned but falsely flying flags, which is dangerous,” because false registration leaves vessels stateless and uninsured, putting crews at risk.

“This is a huge issue for maritime safety, it’s a menace to the environment, and it entails crew welfare,” Bockmann said. […]

“The three tankers that have been targeted by Ukraine are all in ballast, which means that they weren’t carrying oil,” Bockmann said.

“That was carefully chosen, and they were also falsely flagged, just like in the recent case of the three tankers attacked in Ukraine. That flag was Gambia. In the U.S. case of Skipper, the flag was Guyana,” Bockmann said.

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