Defense Intelligence published data on captains and ships of the Russian shadow fleet

Ukrainian intelligence has published data on the captains and vessels of the so-called shadow fleet of Russia.

The Defense Intelligence published data on the captains of the shadow fleet of the Russian Federation in order to protect the maritime industry from cooperation with the aggressor.

The War & Sanctions portal of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has published data on 45 more ships of the Russian “shadow fleet”.

The list includes, among other things, ships that transported sanctioned Russian oil from the Arctic and serviced the projects “Sakhalin-1”, “Sakhalin-2”, “Sakhalin-3”, “Pryrazlomnoye”, “Novy Port”.

In total, the portal has published data on 89 captains, some of whom are under sanctions.

Captains are the main ones on a sea vessel and have full authority on board. They possess information about the owners of shadow tankers and their technical condition, about the ship’s cargo and its value, the Defense Intelligence noted.

Contrary to international rules, industry standards, and established sanctions restrictions, these captains resort to deceptive and high-risk practices. They disable and manipulate the AIS or LRIT system, use spoofing, enter false information into route logs, and conduct STS transmissions.

Such actions by captains help the aggressor circumvent restrictions applied by more than 30 countries to Russian energy resources, and create a threat of environmental catastrophe for almost every country in the world, including those that still consider Russia their trading partner.

The list of incidents involving the “shadow fleet” led by Russian captains is counted in dozens. Every key maritime logistics artery in the world is at risk of being blocked for a long time due to the deliberate violations committed by the captains of these ships.

“They can refuse to commit illegal actions, but they choose to be complicit.

The maritime industry in general and crewing companies in particular can stop this. Captains who agreed to command the shadow fleet of the Russian Federation should lose the opportunity to work on ships in the future, and sanctions should be applied to crewing companies that facilitate their employment,” the intelligence agency emphasized.

USM previously reported that Greenpeace and the Nordic Ukraine Forum are calling on Sweden to stop the shadow fleet of the Russian Federation.