Almost 200 ships of the Russian “shadow fleet” passed through British waters unhindered despite Starmer’s statements
12.05.2026 - 16:19
At least 184 sanctioned vessels passed through the country’s waters, despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statements about their potential interception.
This was reported by BBC Verify, citing an analysis of MarineTraffic data.
In March, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the British military “can now board sanctioned vessels passing through our waters.”
However, from March 25 to May 11, BBC Verify journalists recorded 238 passages of 184 sanctioned vessels through British waters, and the authorities did not provide any evidence of their interception.
These are vessels of the Russian “shadow fleet”, which Moscow uses to circumvent international sanctions on oil exports. All of the identified vessels are on the British Foreign Office’s sanctions list due to their ties to Russia.
Most of the vessels were oil tankers – 173 units. Another 10 were carrying LNG, and one was classified as a multipurpose offshore vessel.
According to BBC Verify, all of the vessels entered the UK’s exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from the coast. In at least 94 cases, the vessels also entered the country’s territorial waters.
The UK Ministry of Defence said it was working to “contain and destabilise” the activities of the “shadow fleet”, but did not provide details of specific operations.
Former Royal Navy ship commander Tom Sharp criticised the lack of action by the British authorities, calling the situation “deplorable”.
“We have military capabilities – warships, boarding parties, customs officers. But we are too risk-averse and poorly coordinated,” he told the BBC.
Journalists also report that one of the sanctioned tankers – the Universal – was likely escorting the Russian military frigate Admiral Grigorovich. This conclusion was made by experts from the intelligence company MAIAR based on satellite images and analysis of the characteristics of the vessels.
Earlier, USM reported that the EU is preparing new sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet.
