How many are there: 300, 400, 600, or even more? Since the EU's 2022 embargo on Russian oil and price cap sanctions on sales of Russian hydrocarbon products at the beginning of 2023, the G7 countries and their allies have been worried about the proliferation of the number of secret vessels employed by Moscow to sell its oil in complete secrecy. So much so, that, on October 17, the United Kingdom announced its fourth package of sanctions, targeting 18 new tankers that are no longer allowed to enter British ports, nor to benefit from the maritime services provided by UK companies, including insurance. The vessels of the Russian "ghost fleet" – so many that it would be more appropriate to speak of "ghost fleets" – have become increasingly elusive.
Initially, observers' attention was effectively focused on old tankers directly chartered by Russia. These vessels were essentially owned by Russia's public hydrocarbon product shipping company Sovcomflot, insured by non-Western companies and sailing under conditions as obscure as they were risky from a maritime safety standpoint. However, Sovcomflot was quickly sanctioned, shortly followed by Sun Ship Management, a Dubai-based shipowner that had tried to discreetly take over its ships, in the spring of 2022.
Since then, new ghost fleets have either come to support or taken over the task of transporting Russian oil and hydrocarbon products without respecting the price caps imposed by Western sanctions. These ships have been operating off the radars of governments and companies specializing in ocean surveillance, enabling Russia to continue profiting from its oil windfall. The figures necessary to assess the scale of the phenomenon are, however, lacking.
According to the latest estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics, published at the beginning of October, Russia has invested nearly $10 billion (€9.26 billion) to set up a ghost fleet of several hundred vessels, estimated at nearly 600 ships in July. These have been said to carry 70% of Russian oil product exports by sea, and even 90% of crude oil. The total transported volumes have quadrupled since April 2022.
As a result, part of the shipping market has now fallen into the hands of these small, highly secretive operators, which are closely linked to Moscow and located in the United Arab Emirates, as well as in India and Asia, as reported in November 2023 by Public Eye, a Swiss organization that investigates multinationals companies' social responsibilities. The fleet's expansion has been aided by flags of convenience, particularly from countries on the African continent, such as Liberia, which still rarely conducts inspections.
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