Russia’s “shadow fleet” damages the environment because of cheap fuel
30.05.2024 - 13:25
Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers is damaging the environment.
The growing fleet of tankers carrying Iranian, Venezuelan and Russian oil is being filled with the cheapest fuel available, Reuters reports.
This prevents the reduction of emissions from shipping.
The global shipping industry is under increasing pressure to use cleaner fuels to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants and meet broader environmental goals.
The hundreds of tankers carrying sanctioned oil pose a problem because they are difficult to trace due to opaque ownership and the use of non-Western insurance and other maritime services. Also, ships have no incentives to comply with cleaner shipping standards.
“You’re seeing more and more vessels that have found ways to get around the sanctions by operating outside of Western jurisdiction,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, principal analyst at Lloyd’s List Intelligence marine data group.
These include the dangerous transshipment of oil from ship to ship in international waters to avoid port state control, as well as forgery of ship identification numbers. Tankers send false information about their location and use flag registries with lower standards of technical oversight and expertise.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence estimates that the “shadow fleet” has grown to around 630 tankers from 530 a year ago, representing 14.5% of the total global tanker fleet.
According to some industry estimates, this number is even higher – more than 800 tankers.
