Open-source reporting on sanctioned seaborne tradehttps://shadowfleetmonitor.com/2026-10-06T20:58:59ZShadow Fleet Monitorhttps://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/south-korea-fuel-sanctioned-russian-tankers/2026-10-06T12:00:00Z

South Korean ports supplied more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, to Russian tankers in July and August 2026, according to a Guardian investigation reported by the Kyiv Independent. The Guardian says seven Russian tankers, three of them under UK and EU sanctions, made 14 round trips between Russia's far-eastern ports and South Korea, and one cargo was loaded by ship-to-ship transfer outside South Korean ports. The findings drew on port records and ship-tracking data. According to the Guardian, the shipments do not appear to breach South Korean law, as Seoul's export controls on Russia cover electronics, machinery and vehicles. South Korea's foreign ministry did not comment directly, saying it supports international efforts to end the war.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/aframax-rio-fire-sochi/2026-10-06T12:00:00Z

A large tanker caught fire off the Russian resort city of Sochi on 6 October, the Maritime Executive reports, citing local media accounts and satellite sensing data. Initial reports suggest the ship is likely the Aframax Rio, which Ukraine added to its shadow fleet sanctions list in February 2026 over alleged involvement in Russian oil exports. Videos posted on Russian social media showed fire centred on the cargo tanks and burning oil spreading across the water behind the vessel. A Russian war reporting channel cited by the outlet said there were no air raid sirens or explosions before the blaze. Ukraine has not claimed an attack, and it remains unclear whether the fire was accidental or combat-related.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/iran-floating-stocks-run-dry/2026-10-05T12:00:00Z

Iranian crude held in floating storage, mostly off Malaysia, is close to running out, The Maritime Executive reports. Kpler estimates that about 15 million barrels remained afloat at the start of October and that the stocks could be used up by mid-October, although other analysts expect them to last somewhat longer. According to the outlet, the US naval blockade has stopped any Iranian or dark fleet tanker leaving the Gulf for ten weeks, and Iran has kept revenue coming from its almost entirely Chinese customer base by drawing down these stocks. The publication says that by the end of the year Iran will lose an income stream that has supplied around 40 per cent of government finances.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/japan-sanctions-35-vessels-oct-2026/2026-10-03T12:00:00Z

Japan's government announced further sanctions on Russia on Friday 3 October, including curbs on services to 35 vessels it says belong to the shadow fleet carrying sanctioned Russian oil, Kyodo News reports. The measures bar insurance, maritime transport, crew employment and dispatch, and repairs for the ships, which are believed to move Russian crude to buyers including China and India. Tokyo also restricted payments and transactions with 33 entities and nine individuals, added 102 goods to its export curbs and banned exports to four entities in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. According to Kyodo, the step was coordinated with other G7 members. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy welcomed the package.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/uscg-grace-cuba-fuel/2026-10-02T12:00:00Z

The US Coast Guard says it intercepted the vessel Grace in the Caribbean Sea as it carried fuel towards Cuba, gCaptain reports. After the boarding, the ship was escorted to Progreso in Mexico, where Mexican Navy inspectors confirmed large quantities of fuel in its ballast tanks and found further fuel in containers on board. The Coast Guard did not disclose the amount or type of fuel, or the ship's owner or flag. It said a second vessel, the Jaira Provider, had also been boarded and detained for carrying illicit fuel to Cuba. Coast Guard commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday said 'dark fleet' operators using deceptive tactics "will not evade justice".

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/uk-sanctions-oct-2026/2026-10-01T12:00:00Z

The UK announced 31 new sanctions on 1 October, covering 23 individuals and entities and eight ships. According to the government, the vessels comprise three shadow fleet ships, two that supply them with bunker fuel and three Russian-owned ice-class vessels. It says Russia is trying to assemble a new shadow fleet to get round sanctions and keep earning from gas exports. It adds that the UK has now sanctioned nearly 600 tankers and that UK forces intercepted the shadow fleet vessel Smyrtos in June. Other designations cover alleged abuses against Ukrainian civilians and disinformation. Europe minister Lord Wood of Anfield said the UK was "targeting both the revenues" sustaining Russia's aggression and those responsible for crimes against civilians.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/bessent-iran-zero-loadings-sep/2026-10-01T12:00:00Z

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X on 1 October that Iran had loaded "ZERO crude oil onto tankers in September", Middle East Eye reports. He presented the figure as a result of Operation Economic Outcast, Washington's sanctions campaign against Tehran, and said it was cutting the economic lifelines the government uses to fund what he called its terrorist agenda. According to Middle East Eye, the US has blockaded Iranian ports since April 2026 to stop oil exports, most of which go to China. The outlet notes that earlier reports found Iranian shadow fleet vessels slipping past the blockade.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/irini-mandate-2029/2026-09-30T12:00:00Z

EU ambassadors approved a revised mandate for Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI on 30 September, European Pravda reports, citing Euronews. The mission was set up in 2020 to enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya and was due to close in March 2027. The draft extends it to 31 March 2029 with a budget of about €16.88 million and adds countering Russia's shadow fleet and protecting subsea infrastructure to its tasks. Finance ministers are expected to adopt it formally on 9 October. IRINI already inspected the tanker Toa Payoh in early August to check its nationality and registration.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/crea-russian-flag/2026-09-25T12:00:00Z

A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), published on 25 September, finds that 107 vessels joined Russia's ship register between January 2025 and June 2026, a 36 per cent increase, with 25 added in December 2025 alone. Over the same period the number of Russia-trading shadow fleet ships sailing under false flags fell from 101 to 45. EUobserver notes the consequence for European coastal states: detaining a ship that now flies the Russian flag risks a direct diplomatic clash with Moscow.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/bellona-nsr-2026/2026-09-25T12:00:00Z

By mid-September, 50 shadow fleet oil tankers and 18 LNG carriers had sailed the Northern Sea Route, against 38 and 13 for the whole of 2025, according to Bellona's shipping monitoring. Six of the LNG carriers have no ice class and two only a low one; most fly the Russian flag, with two each under the Marshall Islands and Oman flags. On 7 September the tankers Jagger and Mirabel, fresh from the route, transferred oil near Nakhodka to Navistar and Lumin for onward shipment to China.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/sibu1-piracy/2026-09-25T12:00:00Z

The Eritrea-flagged tanker Sibu 1 has been freed and its captors detained, a commander of the Puntland Maritime Police Force told Reuters. Six armed men seized the ship on 20 August, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations. The US Treasury sanctioned the vessel in December for its alleged part in a shadow fleet moving Iranian petroleum products. Piracy off Somalia has picked up again in recent months.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ukraine-300-tankers-11-weeks/2026-09-22T12:00:00Z

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces have struck 300 Russian shadow fleet tankers since their campaign began on 6 July, commander Robert Brovdi said, according to the Kyiv Post. He put the tally at 134 in the Sea of Azov and 166 in the Black Sea, up from 159 in the first twelve days and 218 by early August. Brovdi announced the figure on Facebook. The Kyiv Post says the campaign targets ageing tankers moving Russian oil around Western sanctions and the price cap. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the attacks as piracy in July, a label Brovdi rejected.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/euiss-militarisation/2026-09-14T12:00:00Z

A commentary from the EU Institute for Security Studies argues that European pressure has changed the fleet in two ways. Russia is registering the vessels under its own flag, and it is arming them: in June 2026 Estonian authorities reported machine guns mounted on the deck of a shadow fleet ship passing through Estonian waters. The authors also link the vessels to drone sightings across Europe in 2025 and 2026, and say the aim should remain removing old, dangerous ships from European waters.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/crea-august-2026-monthly/2026-09-10T12:00:00Z

Sanctioned shadow tankers carried 52% of Russia's seaborne oil in August, according to CREA's monthly analysis published on 10 September. For crude alone, their share was 61%, against 34% for tankers owned or insured in G7+ countries; for oil products, G7+ tankers moved 72% and sanctioned shadow vessels 19%. CREA counted 45 shadow vessels operating under false flags at the end of the month, 14 of which had alternated between Russian and Iranian cargoes, and said five falsely flagged ships delivered EUR 190 mn of Russian oil during August. Cameroon's registry struck off 26 fraudulently registered vessels in July and 11 in August, shrinking the Cameroon-flagged shadow fleet carrying Russian fuels from 140 in February to 83.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/synmax-dark-sts-sea-of-japan/2026-09-10T12:00:00Z

Satellite analytics firm SynMax detected two ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil in the Sea of Japan on 7 September, gCaptain reported. According to the report, the tanker Jagger, which loaded near Murmansk on 20 July, transferred cargo to the Navistar, while the Mirabel, which left Primorsk on 24 July, discharged into the Lumin; both receiving ships had their AIS transponders switched off. The transfers took place south of Nakhodka Bay, farther offshore than earlier activity, and SynMax said they were the first it had seen in that area. Two other tankers, Ligovsky Prospect and Primavera, delivered oil directly to the Chinese ports of Dongying and Lanshan, gCaptain said.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/centcom-five-tankers/2026-09-08T12:00:00Z

US Central Command said it destroyed five crude tankers associated with the IRGC on 8 September, four in the Gulf of Oman and one near Kharg Island, Iran's main export terminal. It described them as part of Iran's shadow fleet and said the strikes answered two failed Iranian missile attacks on a US warship; crews were told to leave the ships first. Three Iranian tankers had been disabled the weekend before. CENTCOM also said it had turned back 94 commercial ships accused of trying to breach the US blockade of Iranian ports.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/us-strikes-three-iranian-tankers-sep5/2026-09-05T12:00:00Z

US Central Command said on 5 September that it had disabled two Iranian crude carriers and destroyed a third in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island, Al Jazeera reported. One of the ships was identified as the M/T Kylo, also known as Noxen. According to the report, the strikes followed Iranian ballistic missile attacks on US Navy warships, and the US military described the tankers as part of a network financing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its regional proxies. CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said Washington would respond to attacks on its ships by "taking out three of yours".

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/usni-sun-boarding/2026-09-02T12:00:00Z

Personnel from the Italian patrol ship ITS Thaon di Revel boarded MV Sun on 30 August to verify the tanker's flag, USNI News reports. It was the sixth suspected shadow fleet vessel boarded by EU operations in recent months. In these operations the boarding team records the ship's documents and the ship is then free to continue. Gwyn Jenkins is quoted saying Russian shadow tankers have had to change routes, at real cost, since the interdiction of the sanctioned tanker Smyrtos in June.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/iran-tankers-idle-sri-lanka-malaysia/2026-09-02T12:00:00Z

Dozens of tankers linked to Iran's oil trade are waiting at sea off Sri Lanka and Malaysia, unable to return to Iranian ports because of the US naval blockade, The Maritime Executive reported. More than a dozen are anchored at Galle, just outside Sri Lankan territorial waters, and about 48 lie east of Johor, outside Malaysia's exclusive economic zone; nearly all are said to be empty. The outlet said Iranian oil held afloat had dropped from 192 million barrels in mid-April to roughly 80 million by the end of August. As of 1 September, US Central Command had redirected 84 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two, according to the report.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/russia-lng-dark-fleet-doubles/2026-09-01T12:00:00Z

Russia has almost doubled the number of LNG carriers serving its sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project, from 11 in December to at least 20 by early September, according to a Bloomberg report published by gCaptain. Most of the ships have opaque ownership, the report says. A second Russian-built Arc7 ice-class carrier recently loaded at the plant; three such vessels are in service, with another expected by the end of the year, alongside 12 conventional carriers for winter voyages to China, described as the only buyer of sanctioned Russian LNG. Rystad Energy estimates the fleet can move 5.2 to 5.4 million tonnes a year, well short of the two trains' combined capacity of 13.2 million tonnes.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/pism-interventions-limits/2026-08-25T12:00:00Z

European states carried out 18 interventions or attempted interventions against oil tankers between December 2024 and August 2026, led mainly by France and Sweden, according to a bulletin by the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Most ended in temporary detention, fines and proceedings against captains, typically over invalid flags. The author argues the actions add costs but have not significantly reduced the fleet, citing patchy coordination that diverts traffic, legal limits on permanent seizure and the expense of holding ships. The think tank calls for more inspections and a dedicated EU maritime operation.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ofac-economic-outcast-five-tankers/2026-08-24T12:00:00Z

The US Treasury launched what it calls Operation Economic Outcast on 24 August, with the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioning nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels it accuses of enabling the Iranian government. Five of them are ships that Treasury says belong to Iran's shadow fleet and have carried millions of barrels of Iranian crude and petroleum products without authorisation: the LPG tankers Sifra (Botswana flag) and G Silver (Cameroon), and the crude tankers Quantum Hope (Vanuatu), Voyage Elite and Tela (both Gambia). Treasury also issued determinations allowing OFAC to sanction anyone, wherever located, who operates in Iran's shipping, aviation, gold, technology or digital-asset sectors. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the campaign an "economic onslaught".

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/sibu-1-hijacked-gulf-of-aden/2026-08-19T12:00:00Z

Six armed people seized the tanker Sibu 1 (IMO 9204776) about 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen, on 19 August and diverted it towards Somalia, gCaptain reports, citing UKMTO and Lloyd's List. The 32,200 dwt ship, formerly named Seamull, broadcast an AIS message reading "PIRATE ONBOARD HELP". OFAC sanctioned the vessel in December 2025, alleging it formed part of Iran's shadow fleet, carried Iranian petroleum products and called at Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen. It is managed by UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management. gCaptain links the hijacking to a wider resurgence of Somali piracy.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/caroline-bezengi-spill-oman/2026-08-12T12:00:00Z

Oil leaking from the grounded tanker Caroline Bezengi has spread over more than 2,000 square kilometres and reached the Omani coastline, MarineLink reported on 12 August. The 25-year-old sanctioned vessel, carrying about 800,000 barrels of Russian oil, ran aground on 30 June near Ras Madraka and Masirah Island after reporting trouble off Yemen on 8 June following what maritime sources called an apparent blast. A marine reserve is threatened. SkyTruth's John Amos warned that a full break-up of the ship could cause a spill of 40 to 50 million gallons. The report says the IOPC Funds declined involvement, treating the incident as an act of war, and that the ship has no cover from a recognised Western insurer.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/putin-threatens-retaliatory-seizures/2026-08-12T12:00:00Z

Vladimir Putin warned on 12 August that Russia would retaliate against European interceptions of Russian oil cargoes, Euronews reports. Speaking while observing naval exercises aboard the cruiser Varyag near Sakhalin, he described the European actions as piracy and banditry and said Moscow would be forced to "respond in kind", acting wherever it deemed appropriate. Euronews notes that EU sanctions adopted in July allow member states to sell cargo seized from such vessels, and that Sweden was preparing to hand a seized Russian ship, suspected of carrying grain from occupied Ukraine, over to Kyiv.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/us-sells-seized-tankers-scrap/2026-08-10T12:00:00Z

The US government has sold two Russian-flagged tankers it seized in January to Dubai-based ship recycler Global Marketing Systems for demolition in India, MarineLink reports, citing Reuters and Lloyd's List. The ships are the Era, formerly Marinera and Bella 1, which was captured south of Iceland after slipping a US blockade in the Caribbean, and the Lileo, formerly Galileo and Veronica, seized in the Caribbean. Washington alleged the vessels carried sanctioned Venezuelan and Iranian oil or were subject to Russia sanctions. The price was not disclosed. GMS chief executive Anil Sharma said a court order authorised the sales but that "there are complexities".

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/royal-navy-monitoring-neustrashimy-escorts/2026-08-08T12:00:00Z

Royal Navy warships and helicopters spent 21 days in July monitoring Russian activity in UK waters and the North Atlantic, a 25% rise on a year earlier, the UK government said. It said the Russian frigate Neustrashimy repeatedly crossed the UK's area of responsibility escorting shadow fleet tankers in recognised traffic lanes, and that HMS Tyne observed it firing its guns during one transit. The government said the UK has sanctioned more than 500 vessels and that Russia's oil and gas revenues fell 24% in 2025.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/bella-1-master-sentenced/2026-08-07T12:00:00Z

A federal court in Washington DC sentenced Avtandil Kalandadze, a 47-year-old Georgian national, to ten months in prison followed by deportation, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said on 7 August. He had pleaded guilty in June to failing to heave to for a Coast Guard cutter. Prosecutors say he commanded the tanker Bella 1 while it carried about 1.8 million barrels of Iran-origin oil between September and December 2025, and that the ship fled the cutter Munro across the Atlantic before its seizure on 7 January. US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said the ocean "does not place anyone beyond our reach".

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/arctic-tankers-near-north-pole/2026-08-06T12:00:00Z

Close to twenty sanctioned oil tankers are using an unusually far-northern Arctic passage to carry crude from Russia's Arctic terminals towards Asian buyers, gCaptain reports, citing Sentinel-1 satellite imagery and AIS tracking data. The ships are routing north of 81 degrees latitude around the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago instead of through the Vilkitsky Strait. Vessels named include the suezmax Dinasty and the aframaxes Viktor Bakaev, Vostochny Prospect, Liteyny Prospect, Jagger and Ligovsky Prospect; another tanker, Aria, turned back on 31 July. According to the report, Arctic specialists cannot recall a commercial fleet of this size using the passage in a single season.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/uk-six-new-shadow-tankers-aug-2026/2026-08-06T12:00:00Z

In his first major sanctions package, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced 19 designations on 6 August, including six newly acquired shadow fleet tankers the UK says are dodging Western sanctions, six Russian banks and four companies importing tantalum and niobium for military production. Miliband said the measures showed the UK's commitment to Ukraine, and the government said it would keep stepping up action against the fleet.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/sweden-court-caffa-to-ukraine/2026-08-04T12:00:00Z

Sweden's Supreme Court on 4 August dismissed an appeal by Caffa Shipping Ltd, allowing the seized cargo ship Caffa to be handed over to Ukraine, according to court documents reported by Euronews. Swedish police boarded the 96-metre vessel off Trelleborg on 6 March while it was sailing under a false Guinean flag towards Saint Petersburg. Ukraine's sanctions commissioner says the ship carried grain stolen from occupied Ukrainian territory, including a cargo loaded in Sevastopol in July 2025. Euronews describes it as the first court-ordered transfer to Kyiv of a Russian ship suspected of carrying stolen grain. Ukraine's foreign minister called the ruling a "landmark decision".

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/irini-boards-toa-payoh/2026-08-02T12:00:00Z

An Italian Navy team operating under the EU's Operation IRINI boarded the tanker Toa Payoh on 2 August in international waters west of Pantelleria, Naval News reports. The vessel, which declared a Cameroonian flag and is listed under EU sanctions as part of Russia's shadow fleet, had left Cotonou in Benin on 16 July bound for Istanbul. Personnel from ITS Thaon di Revel were inserted by helicopter, supported by a Greek frigate and a Polish patrol aircraft. The inspection, justified under Article 110 of UNCLOS on suspicion over the flag's legitimacy, lasted about two hours without incident. No seizure followed; documents were gathered for national authorities to examine.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/caroline-bezengi-oil-spill-oman/2026-07-31T12:00:00Z

The tanker Caroline Bezengi, which is under EU and UK sanctions over alleged involvement in carrying Russian fuel, appears to be leaking crude off Oman, MarineLink reported, citing Reuters. The vessel, carrying Russian oil from Novorossiysk, ran into trouble on 8 June off Yemen's Mukalla port, where maritime security sources said a blast occurred on board. Satellite images from 28 July showed dark slicks near the ship and lighter patches north of al-Qibliyyah island in a protected marine area. A Pax analyst said at least one hull seemed to be breached. An IMO spokesperson said authorities were discussing the safety and environmental risks.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/malaysia-eopl-iranian-oil-transfers/2026-07-30T12:00:00Z

Iranian oil continues to be moved through Malaysia's Eastern Outer Port Limits anchorage despite the US naval blockade, Al Jazeera reported. The Iranian tanker Humanity switched off its tracking transponder on arriving there, which experts said pointed to a planned ship-to-ship transfer, probably for China. Satellite data cited by the broadcaster showed 62 ships using false identities since January on routes between the Gulf, the anchorage and China, and 18 Iranian-flagged tankers going dark there in the past month. Al Jazeera said the US blockade ran from 13 April to 18 June and resumed on 14 July. Malaysia amended its EEZ law in June to restrict unauthorised transfers.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ofac-hormuz-insurance/2026-07-29T12:00:00Z

OFAC sanctioned what it called an illicit maritime insurance scheme tied to the Strait of Hormuz, saying the risks the cover claims to protect against are largely created by Iran itself. It also designated tankers it says carried Iranian crude and petroleum products, including the Barbados-flagged Breeze V, owned by Hong Kong-based Nevada Spirit Company, and Natsumi, run by Hong Kong-based Marinova Freight. Treasury says it has sanctioned more than 100 vessels linked to Iran's shadow fleet since the start of the year.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/eu-21st-package-shadow-fleet/2026-07-23T12:00:00Z

The Council of the EU adopted its 21st sanctions package against Russia, adding 41 vessels to the list of ships barred from EU ports and services and bringing the total to 673. The listing criteria now also cover ships that support the shadow fleet by providing bunkering and other services. Eight entities and one individual linked to the fleet were designated, including, for the first time, a crewing agency. The package also suspends automatic adjustments to the oil price cap until 15 July 2027, citing market disruption from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and introduces notification requirements for sales of LNG tankers.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/atalanta-authorised-shadow-fleet-boardings/2026-07-22T12:00:00Z

The EU's counter-piracy mission Operation Atalanta has been authorised to carry out flag-verification boardings of ships suspected of belonging to Russia's shadow fleet, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced, Defense News reported. The mission's area covers the Somali Basin, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, the gulfs of Suez and Aqaba and waters around Oman. The boardings rely on Article 110 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which allows warships to inspect ships suspected of false or no nationality. Kallas said the EU was "matching our sanctions with action at sea". The move extends powers already used by Operation Irini in the Mediterranean.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/irini-boards-south-star/2026-07-20T12:00:00Z

Forces from the EU's Operation Irini boarded the Cameroon-flagged tanker South Star in international waters in the Mediterranean for a flag verification check, according to the Moscow Times. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced the boarding on X, saying Europe was increasing pressure on Russia's shadow fleet. Defense News reported that the sanctioned tanker was boarded on 20 July on suspicion of sailing under a false flag. Ship-tracking data cited by the Moscow Times showed the vessel had left Rades in Tunisia on 10 July. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously described such interceptions as piracy.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ukraine-159-vessels-12-days/2026-07-17T12:00:00Z

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi said his units struck 159 Russian shadow fleet vessels between 6 and 17 July, 117 in the Sea of Azov and 42 in the Black Sea, the Kyiv Post reported. Twelve were said to have been hit on 17 July alone, mostly dry cargo ships. The campaign targets small river-sea tankers that carry oil via the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov; Brovdi said the ships were not being sunk to avoid oil spills. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba described the fleet as a legitimate target. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the attacks "pure terrorism" on 14 July.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ofac-shamkhani-network-july/2026-07-14T12:00:00Z

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels linked to the shipping network of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. Treasury says the network moves Iranian oil and Russian petroleum products, runs container shipping and supplies Yemen's Houthis, with companies spread across the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Marshall Islands and elsewhere. Twenty vessels were listed, including Caspian Sea ships. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the network one of the Iranian government's "most profitable engines". Treasury said more than 200 targets tied to the network have now been sanctioned across several actions.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/russia-halts-kerch-don-azov-shipping/2026-07-11T12:00:00Z

Russia temporarily suspended navigation through the Don-Azov Canal after overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on vessels in the Sea of Azov, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Reuters. Ukrainian drone commander Robert Brovdi said the attack damaged 21 tankers, four tugboats, two dry cargo ships and one specialised vessel, and claimed traffic through the Kerch Strait appeared to have stopped. Reuters reported on 10 July that Russian border guards had stopped accepting applications for Kerch Strait passage with no reopening date. Wheat futures rose 4% on supply concerns, as up to a quarter of Russia's wheat exports pass through the Sea of Azov.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ukraine-drones-hit-dozen-azov-tankers/2026-07-07T12:00:00Z

Ukraine's drone forces said they attacked twelve tankers belonging to Russia's shadow fleet over two days as the vessels supplied fuel to Crimea, MarineLink reported, citing Reuters. Eight tankers of about 7,000 deadweight tonnes each were said to have been hit in the Sea of Azov, with two more struck later the same day and two the day before. Reuters could not independently verify drone footage released by Ukraine. The drone forces said hitting Russian naval logistics hampers fuel and ammunition supplies to troops in Crimea. Drone commander Robert Brovdi had earlier vowed to cut the peninsula off from Russia through systematic strikes.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/europe-targets-false-cameroon-flag-tankers/2026-07-02T12:00:00Z

European countries are intensifying enforcement against tankers carrying Russian oil under fraudulent Cameroonian registrations, including boardings at sea, according to Reuters reporting carried by gCaptain. Nine ships have been detained by French, Belgian, British and Swedish forces since early 2026, five of them flying Cameroon's flag. France seized the Deliver near Sicily on 25 June even though it had been removed from Cameroon's registry. Cameroon has de-listed 39 vessels after finding that two websites were being used fraudulently to assign its flag. The EU was preparing further listings for mid-July, Reuters reported.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ukraine-imo-letter-shadow-fleet-targets/2026-07-01T12:00:00Z

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba has sent a letter to the International Maritime Organization setting out Kyiv's view that Russian oil and gas tankers funding Moscow's war could be treated as legitimate military targets, the Kyiv Post reported. Kuleba argued that such vessels are central to generating Russian budget revenue and the continuation of the war, and questioned whether their voyages can be seen as purely commercial. The letter followed Russian accusations of terrorism over an attack on the Arctic Metagaz in March. Ukraine rejected that characterisation, citing Russian attacks on 59 merchant vessels since 2022, including grain ships near Odesa.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/france-detains-deliver-sicily/2026-06-23T12:00:00Z

French naval forces stopped and boarded the tanker Deliver off Sicily, with help from the Royal Navy and the EU's IRINI operation, Maritime Executive reported. The French military said the ship was found to be using a false flag. According to the report, the tanker had claimed Cameroonian registry since January and was sailing from Russia's Primorsk terminal towards Singapore; the EU and UK sanctioned it in 2025 over Russian oil trade. It was escorted to a French anchorage and Marseille's public prosecutor is investigating. USNI News described it as France's fifth such seizure since September 2025, quoting President Emmanuel Macron: "We will not allow the shadow fleet to evade sanctions."

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/ukraine-strikes-fina-a-black-sea/2026-06-17T12:00:00Z

Ukraine's General Staff said on 17 June that its forces had struck the tanker Fina A in the Black Sea overnight, according to the Kyiv Independent. Kyiv Post reported that the vessel was hit in waters between Anapa and Novorossiysk. Ukrainian officials described the 244-metre ship as being used to carry Russian oil in circumvention of sanctions; both outlets noted it is under EU, Swiss, UK, Canadian and Ukrainian sanctions. The General Staff said the target was hit and that the extent of the damage was being assessed. The strike was reported alongside attacks on bridges, command posts and drone control points in occupied areas and in Russia.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/uk-sanctions-package-june-lng-carriers/2026-06-16T12:00:00Z

The UK announced 70 new Russia-related sanctions on 16 June, including more than 20 oil tankers, ship insurers and other shipping service providers, the government said, taking the number of shadow fleet and Russian LNG vessels it has sanctioned past 600. gCaptain reported that the notice designated 27 ships in total, among them four LNG carriers linked to the Arctic LNG 2 project: Orion, Merkuriy, Kosmos and Luch. It said Britain was the first G7 country to target them, and that Murmansk bunkering firm Kord-Bunker was also designated. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK remained "one step ahead" of the Kremlin's tactics.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/uk-charges-smyrtos-captain/2026-06-15T12:00:00Z

The UK National Crime Agency charged Ajay Pant, an Indian national and captain of the tanker Smyrtos, with contravening sanctions, MarineLink reported on 15 June. The charge alleges he directly or indirectly supplied or delivered prohibited Russian oil or oil products by ship to a third country. He was due to appear at Southampton Magistrates' Court on 16 June. The Cameroon-flagged vessel, described in the report as a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, had been boarded by British commandos in the English Channel the previous day and detained. The report noted that the UK has sanctioned about 600 vessels it links to Russia's shadow fleet.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/eu-council-lists-shadow-fleet-enablers-june/2026-06-15T12:00:00Z

The Council of the EU on 15 June adopted sanctions on two individuals and 24 entities it says are involved in shipping and exporting Russian crude and oil products, including via the shadow fleet. The named individuals are Tahir Garayev and Konstantin Rogach, and the listed companies are registered in Russia, Liberia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Hong Kong, according to the Council. Lukoil-Western Siberia was among those named. The listings formed part of a wider set of measures also aimed at Russia's military-industrial complex and propaganda. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the measures struck at Russia's shadow fleet and the networks behind its hybrid attacks.

https://shadowfleetmonitor.com/story/rogozin-calls-to-mine-tankers/2026-06-15T12:00:00Z

Russian senator Dmitry Rogozin suggested fitting shadow fleet tankers with explosive charges that could be detonated if the ships were seized, Splash247 reports, arguing that a few explosions and resulting oil spills would make Western navies reconsider. His remarks followed the UK's boarding of the tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel, its first such interdiction. The UK estimates the fleet numbers over 700 vessels carrying about three quarters of Russia's sanctioned oil exports.