THE UK government has sanctioned a further 11 of Russia’s shadow fleet tankers and says it will lead a 45-country coalition to further disrupt the use of “illegitimate vessels”.

Eight of the tankers listed were owned by Russian government-controlled PAO Sovcomflot, including two already sanctioned by either the US or EU27.

A further three were linked to an anonymously owned 26-tanker fleet shipping Russian oil, and formerly managed by Dubai-based shipmanager Radiating World Shipping Services LLC, which was sanctioned by the UK last December.

The UK said it would lead the “Call to Action” coalition, which includes another 44 European countries and the European Union and aims to disrupt the Russian fleet.

The measures were announced at the European Political Community Summit in England on July 18, ahead of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressing the UK Cabinet on Friday at an extraordinary meeting.

“Alongside our European partners, we have sent a clear message to those enabling Putin’s attempts to evade sanctions: We will not allow Russia’s shadow fleet, and the dirty money it generates, to flow freely through European waters and put our security at risk,” said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The prominence given to tackling Russian sanctions evasion at the historic summit places the dark* or shadow fleet at the forefront of government foreign policy initiatives across the UK and Europe to support Ukraine.

“The ‘shadow fleet’, also known as the ‘dark fleet’, poses serious maritime security and environmental risks,” said the UK government statement.

“The vessels are often old and unsafe, and engage in dangerous and deceptive shipping practices, such as turning off location tracking systems, which flouts international maritime standards, and increases the likelihood of catastrophic incidents.

“EPC states govern some of the world’s busiest and most important waterways, and dozens of incidents are known to have already taken place, such as onboard fires, engine failures, oil spills and collisions, and many of the vessels lack the appropriate insurance.”

Some tankers allegedly doubled as Russian listening stations, or transported weaponry to Russia, according to the statement.

Russia is thought to have spent more than $8bn assembling the secretive fleet and today’s actions bring the total of tankers directly sanctioned by the US, Europe or UK to more than 60 in the past 10 months.

The strategy has proven to be the most effective in disrupting tankers shipping Russia oil in breach of the Group of Seven industrialised nations price cap implemented 19 months ago.

Most of the ships designated have been unable to trade since, with many sitting at anchorages for months.

The dark fleet of anonymously owned, elderly tankers shipping Russian, Venezuelan and Iranian oil numbers about 650, comprising about 14.5% of the tanker fleet, according to Lloyd’s List methodology.

It has grown by more than 300 ships since Russian entered Ukraine in February 2022, and accounts for about half of all tankers that shipped Russian oil last month, based on Lloyd’s List Intelligence research.

Russia exported 7.6m barrels per day in June, earning $16.7bn in export revenues, according to the International Energy Agency.

Among those listed by the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation today were five Sovcomflot-owned Gabon-flagged aframax tankers Adygeya (IMO: 9292204), Korolev Prospect (IMO: 9826902), NS Commander (IMO: 9306794), NS Lotus (IMO: 9339337) and Primorsky Prospect (IMO: 9511533) and two Gabon-flagged product tankers SCF Amur (IMO: 9333436) and SCF Pechora (IMO: 9333424).

A sixth aframax, Panama-flagged Zaliv Amurskiy (IMO: 9354313), was also listed.

The three Cook Islands-flagged suezmax tankers were Dynamik Trader (IMO: 9286657), Fighter Two (IMO: 9296391) and Rocky Runner (IMO: 9288899).

All have unknown ownership, with Dynamik Trader and Fighter Two transferring from Radiating World to ISM manager Almuhit Alhadi Marine Services LLC in April and May respectively.

Rocky Runner left Radiating World ISM management days after the company was sanctioned, moving to Breath Shipping Services LLC.

* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned and/or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined in US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned.

Download our explainer on the different risk profiles of the dark fleet here