At least five tankers from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet have leaked oil off Europe’s shores, according to a joint investigation by a not-for-profit group and a news outlet.
The investigation combined satellite imagery from environmental monitoring NGO SkyTruth with shipping data from the Kpler commodities platform to show that the tankers had continued to sail unimpeded in European waters after leaving oil slicks near the continent.
The report from the investigation by the non-profit journalism group SourceMaterial and Politico underscores “the continent’s inability to rein in” the shadow fleet, according to the investigation, which found that two of the vessels had been individually sanctioned by the United Kingdom before the incidents.
Moscow’s shadow fleet, comprising roughly 1,300 aging, underinsured vessels with opaque ownership structures according to analysis by the Lloyd’s List Intelligence maritime analysis firm, is increasingly viewed as a vector for both economic and ecological risk.
Critics argue that European sanctions, which have blacklisted 444 ships in Brussels and 450 in the UK, have failed to deter the fleet from operating with impunity in international waters.
Experts have warned that the deteriorating conditions of the vessels make accidents more likely, while the lack of ownership transparency shields operators from accountability and allows them to sail uninsured.
Latvian Energy Minister Kaspars Melnis told Politico that the oil slicks are a “huge problem”, adding “we are quite lucky at this moment that we don’t have any environmental catastrophe happening.”
A large oil spill left by such a tanker could cost up to €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion), according to estimates by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air think tank.
European taxpayers would likely be left on the hook if the offending vessel owners could not be traced.
A UK foreign office spokesperson told Politico: “The shadow fleet is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s desperate and dangerous attempt to cling onto his oil profits and polluting the sea in the meantime.”
“He’s using ships that ignore basic safety standards, increasing the chance of catastrophic oil spills.”
Oil revenues account for approximately one-quarter of Russia’s federal budget.
Finnish Energy Minister Sari Multala told the outlet that the EU should expand sanctions and hit “the whole value chain” involved in transporting sanctioned oil.
A Commission spokesperson emphasized that EU member states are obliged to “impose penalties… for situations of illegal discharge from ships of pollutants.”
The spokesperson also pledged continued action against enablers such as refineries and commercial registries, as well as diplomatic pressure on nations still facilitating the fleet.
The EU’s 19th package of sanctions on Russia, unveiled on Sept. 19, included sanctions on an additional 118 vessels from the country’s shadow fleet.
Europe has taken an increasingly hardline stance on the fleet in recent months, with the French navy boarding a blacklisted tanker on Oct.1 after data showed it was off the Danish coast last month during mysterious drone flights over the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that France was probing the ship for “serious offences” but declined to elaborate further. One specialist website says that the tanker and other ships could have been used as launch platforms for mystery drones that disrupted air traffic in Denmark.
In April, the Estonian Navy said that it had detained an oil tanker believed to belong to the shadow fleet to check its documents.
In January, Kyiv Post reported that an oil spill from two damaged shadow fleet tankers had caused what Putin called an “ecological disaster” off the coast of Crimea.