Russia bought a significant part of its "shadow" fleet from Western countries – investigation

Western shipping companies profitably sell their old tankers to Russia, which forms them into a so-called "shadow fleet" to transport its oil, bypassing Western sanctions.

At least 230 such vessels, many of which were intended for scrap, have been sold over the past three years of war.

The total sales exceeded $6 billion, as revealed by an investigation conducted by the Dutch project Follow the Money, in collaboration with media from nine countries and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), as reported by The Moscow Times.

German, British, Norwegian, Belgian, and, above all, Greek ships, later re-registered in India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and the Seychelles, made up more than one-third of Russia’s shadow fleet, which helps Putin continue selling oil and funding the war against Ukraine, the investigation states.

Shipowners from 21 out of 35 countries that imposed sanctions on Russia have added their vessels to the shadow fleet, receiving high payments for their "old, rusty, and dangerous" tankers, notes Follow the Money.

For example, the Marla Tankers company, owned by Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, a Greek film producer and heir to a major shipping family (one of Greece’s wealthiest), sold two 15-year-old tankers for $84 million in the fall of 2024.

Six years earlier, they were purchased for just $50 million.

The new owner, Phuong Dong Petrol Transportation, based in Hanoi, Vietnam, registered the tankers under the flags of Malta and Panama. At the time, the company already owned at least one vessel involved in transporting Russian oil in violation of sanctions.

Less than a month later, the two purchased tankers joined this operation, heading to Ust-Luga in the Baltic, where each of them took on board an oil cargo worth approximately $50 million.

After the European Union introduced an embargo on Russian oil and petroleum products at the end of 2022, and, together with other Western countries, set a price cap of $60 per barrel, the prices of old tankers that could be used to bypass sanctions surged, writes The Guardian.

An analyst from the specialized publication Lloyd’s List explained to investigators:

"Many European shipowners had old tankers that they thought wouldn’t sell for a good price. But suddenly, their value doubled, and they rushed to sell them."

Shipowners helped Russia create a shadow fleet of over 600 tankers, which, according to KSE estimates, transports about 70% of its oil.

The Belgian company CMB.Tech sold five tankers, which began transporting Russian oil in 2022 – early 2023, for $135 million, or $27 million per vessel. This roughly corresponds to the average price at which scrap-designated tankers, identified by Follow the Money, were transferred to the shadow fleet.

"We don’t know what happens to the vessels after sale, and it is not our responsibility to find out," said CMB.Tech representative Katrien Hennin. "Who the buyer resells the vessel to, or how they operate it – legally or illegally – is beyond our competence."

According to investigators' estimates, the largest number of tankers later used for transporting Russian oil were sold by shipowners from:

• Greece – 127 vessels
• United Kingdom – 22 vessels
• Germany – 11 vessels
• Norway – 8 vessels

Background. As previously reported, China and India have stopped purchasing Russian oil following sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet. Instead, Asian countries are now buying oil from Kazakhstan.