EU steps up pressure on Cameroon’s “shadow fleet” under false flag – 39 vessels removed from register

Cameroon has removed 39 ships from its register that were illegally flying its flag to transport Russian oil.

Europe is stepping up measures against tankers that illegally use the Cameroonian flag to transport Russian oil. The pressure forced Cameroon to remove 39 such ships from its ship register, Reuters reports.

Thus, on June 8, the EU expanded the mandate of the naval mission in the Mediterranean Sea IRINI. It now has the right to stop, board, detain and inspect ships suspected of belonging to the Russian “shadow fleet”.

According to European military sources, during inspections within the framework of IRINI, false Cameroonian registration was found on at least three tankers — Nelsa, Oneiroi and Sandhya. In total, since the beginning of 2026, the navies of France, Belgium, Great Britain and Sweden have detained nine ships, five of which were flying Cameroonian flags.

Cameroon has warned in recent months about the abuse of its registry. In a letter to the International Maritime Organization dated June 16, the government said that an official investigation had identified several ships illegally flying the Cameroonian flag, and that two fraudulent websites were used to register them. As a result, 39 ships were deregistered.

In recent years, Cameroon has become one of the largest centers of shipping fraud. As early as 2024, the UAE banned ships flying its flag from entering its ports without the highest level of security certificates. A case in point is the tanker Deliver, which France seized on June 25 near Sicily: the ship was flying the Cameroonian flag, despite having already been deregistered.

Meanwhile, the EU is preparing another package of sanctions for mid-July. According to European officials, it will include adding another 30 “shadow fleet” vessels to the list and expanding the criteria — in particular, to vessels involved in refueling sanctioned ships or cargo transshipment.

The key risks of such a fleet relate to the safety of seafarers and the environment. Old and poorly maintained tankers can collapse, as happened with two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea in late 2024.

Recall that before this, Cameroon demanded to remove references to its flag in the case of the detained “shadow fleet” tanker.