The world’s fleet of sanctioned tankers is growing despite tightening sanctions

Analysts have estimated that the fleet of “shadow tankers” continues to grow by at least 30 vessels a month.

Despite new sanctions from the US, UK and EU this year, the fleet of tankers illegally transporting oil continues to expand rapidly, according to data from broker BRS.

The broker estimated that the total fleet of oil tankers used to transport illicit oil (with vessels over 3,000 tons) has grown to 1,140 units with a total weight of 127.4 million tons. By comparison, just six months ago, such a fleet numbered 930 vessels (109.6 million tons).

This represents an average growth rate of 30 vessels a month, even as the world’s largest countries have imposed the toughest sanctions on the sector in many years.

The aging fleet is also a concern. The average age of such tankers is over 20 years. Instead of being scrapped, many of these old ships are sold to shadowy operations, as the resale proceeds far exceed the cost of disposal.

 It was previously reported that Russia has spent $14 billion on its “shadow fleet” over the past three years.