The shadow fleet of sanctioned oil tankers is increasingly adopting Russian flags to evade US and Western enforcement, a trend highlighted by the recent capture of the Bella 1—rebranded mid-chase as the Marinera. Originally flying a fake Guyana flag, the vessel changed its identity and hastily painted a Russian tricolor to deter interception, but the US military seized it anyway between Iceland and Scotland.
According to Lloyd’s List, 17 shadow fleet tankers have taken on the Russian flag in recent weeks, and more than 40 have done so since last June, underscoring a broader “flight to security” as vessels tied to Iranian, Venezuelan, and Russian oil seek Kremlin protection.
While Russia has historically intervened to protect shadow vessels near its waters, its response to the Marinera’s capture was muted, reflecting a cautious diplomatic posture amid shifting US-Russia relations, reports Paul Sonne and Michael Schwirtz of The New York Times. The seizure highlights the growing complexity of policing the illicit oil trade and the strategic and legal risks posed by increasingly overt shadow fleets. They write:
The shadow fleet is stepping out of the shadows.
As the U.S. military chased a dilapidated oil tanker away from Venezuela and across the Atlantic Ocean in recent days, the fugitive ship changed its identity. Previously known as the Bella 1, the vessel rebranded as the Marinera. It no longer claimed to come from Guyana. Its new flag, painted hastily on the hull by the crew in the middle of the chase, was the Russian tricolor.
The ship’s harried assumption of a Russian identity was probably intended to deter the United States from pursuing the vessel and to raise the specter of a Russian response to any seizure, according to maritime experts. The U.S. military proceeded anyway and intercepted the ship on Wednesday in the waters between Iceland and Scotland. Russia so far has not mounted a significant response. […]
Five tankers that have operated recently in Venezuelan waters, including the Marinera, have switched their flags to Russia in recent days, according to a Times analysis. All of the vessels have been subjected to U.S. sanctions for shipping either Iranian or Russian oil. […]
Last month, 17 shadow fleet tankers took on the Russian flag, according to Lloyd’s List, a maritime intelligence and data firm, and more than 40 have done so since last June. […]
For years, aged shadow vessels, like the Marinera, have provided a lifeline to states like Venezuela, Iran and Russia, as well as to nonstate actors like drug cartels, allowing them to evade sanctions by covertly shipping oil around the world. The ships often fly flags of convenience from places like the Cook Islands, or no flag at all, masking the involvement of the countries employing them.
“The whole point of the shadow fleet previously — there was this element of plausible deniability for the Russians,” Mr. Meade said. “It was opaquely owned out of a shell company in Dubai. It was registered to a Seychelles trust. It said it had insurance, but nobody saw any real paperwork. These were not things Russia wanted to say were our ships.”
Such a scheme, though, also made the ships vulnerable. […]
By putting its flags on ships, Russia is now “saying we are connected to the shadow fleet,” Ms. Braw said. […]
Ms. Braw said the U.S. action to take control of the Marinera, while probably legal, could have unintended consequences, including potentially putting American ships in danger.
“On the oceans what is clear is that what is legal was not always wise,” she said. “What it does is send a message to every other country in the world, especially countries less law-abiding than, say, Scandinavia, that they can take action against vessels on the high seas, and who is going to stop them?”
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