The long and arduous battle of Europe against the Russian “fleet” is far from being over
“The more hard war against Russia, the harder will be our answer,” said the high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy this week, Kaja KallasAfter the foreign ministers of the European Union formally adopted a new tour of penalties against Russia for their large -scale invasion of Ukraine. The measures included The black list 189 ships belonging to the so -called “shadow fleet” of Moscowwith which the total number of restriction ships is equivalent to almost 350.
The next day, Poland made a Surprising announcement. “A Russian ship of ‘Shadow Float’ Under sanctions he was performing suspicious maneuvers near the high voltage cable that connects Poland and Sweden, “wrote Prime Minister Donald Tusk on social networks”. After the actual intervention of our military, the ship sailed to one of the Russian ports. “
The coincidence of the events showed, once again, the formidable challenges that have to face the EU in its one year mission to end the decrepit dark florry of oil tankers that Moscow has deployed in the sea in a bold and dangerous attempt to avoid rigid economic restrictions imposed by the West. Political attention on the “Shadow Fleet”as is commonly known, has not stopped growing From June 2024, the first time Brussels appointed oil managed by Russia and denied access to EU ports and services. At that time, the logic of the black list focused mainly on avoiding the avoidance of large stairs.
But a series of accidents in the Baltic Sea, among these One in December where Finland He seized a suspicious oil tanker to deliberately cut a critical submarine cable, caused generalized alarm and brought to light the extreme risks that the “shadow fleet” supposes the safety and the block environment. Last week, Estonia launched a tough warning: Russia is now willing to protect its ancient ships with military force, if necessary, to allow its deceptive maritime oil trade.
The message came after the country intercepts a suspect ship that sailed through its waters without pavilion or apparent insurance. After the Estonias authorities stopped the ship, a Russian military plane appeared on the scene. “This hunt violated NATO territory for a minute. This is something very new,” said Foreign Minister Estonia Margus Tsahkna, during a NATO meeting in Türkiye. “We must understand that Russia has officially connected and connected to the Russian fleet in the shade,” he said. “We have to understand that the situation is really serious.”
Putin’s expensive support
The Kremlin collected its “shadow fleet” in response to the limit of the price of Russian oil transported by the G7 and Australia InDecember 2022 After months of intense negotiations. The innovative initiative prohibited to western companies to provide key services to the Russian oil tankers, such as insurance, financing and the flag, to sell raw above an agreed price of 60 dollars per barrel. The G7 introduced two further stops for “premium” products ($ 100 per barrel) and “discount” products ($ 45 per barrel).
With international control at its highest point, Moscow turned to Petroleos in bad conditionSome with 20 years or more, managed by twisted structures designed to hide their real property and operator. Ships They counted with lower quality insurance, on the edge of the leading market coalition and with “Flag of convenience” of reluctant countries to follow western restrictions, such as Panama, Liberia and the Marshall islands. Over time, the Kremlin has a large fleet of up to 650 oil tankers capable of avoiding surveillance of the G7 allies through a series of deceptive practices, such as the transmission of counterfeit data and the shutdown of the transponder to become invisible.
The bet went well: from 2022 Russia has sold constantly Uraral oil at a price greater than 60 dollars, reaching 85 dollars In April last year. China and India have replaced Europe as main oil customers in Russia, providing vital revenues for the war economy. But he also had a considerable cost: according to the Kiev Economy School (KSE), Moscow he spent10,000 million dollars In building the Navy, which today manages most of the Russian raw trade all over the world.
In Brussels, the flagrant circumvention soon became an increasingly unsustainable problem, aggravated by the discomfort that a considerable part of these spurdy oil ships was sold in Russia from Western Europe societyin particular of Greece. In particular, the blockade has abstained from the introduction of a direct ban on the sale or transfer of oil ownership to Russia, despite having prohibited thousands of other exports which Moscow had urgently needed. Instead, he introduced a notification system on the basis of which companies and EU people are obliged notify these transactions If the possible buyer is related to Russia. The sale remains, by default, prohibited unless the national authority of its authorization.
‘WHAC-A-Mole’
After several rounds of sanctions, the EU has expanded its black list a 342 ships of the “ghost fleet” Some of which have also been subject to penalties by the United Kingdom and the United States. The blockade has imposed individual sanctions to companies that allow to avoid the price of the price of the G7, the most recent VSK, an exceptional insurer of the Russian energy sector. Ursula von der leyen He said There are more penalties coming.
“This indicates that, after almost three years, Western governments The question is taken seriously“He told” Euronews “Petras Katinas, an energy analyst at the Clean Energy Research Center (Crea). The continuous designation has contributed to curbing the maritime activities of the fleet, since ports are increasing Monthly relationship De La creates that the percentage of “shadow” petrol bogs that the transport of Russian oil fell from 65% to January to 53% in April, while the remaining 47% makes it oil owned by G7 or insured by them, which must satisfy the price limit.
However, several lagoons exist. For example, ship transfers to boats, which Russia uses to mask the origin of its crude oil and sell it deceptively in the world markets. “These operations They should be prohibited Finally, since they suppose a clear risk of conformity with penalties and maritime security, “said Katin. The impenetrable darkness that surrounds the” fleet in the shadows “has transformed repression into a sort of words of words: as soon as one ship enters the blacklist, another emerges from the shadows. Sometimes, even those who are on the black list can do.
ADVERTISING“The data clearly shows that it is not enough to sanction ships. It is necessary a more energetic application To ensure that these designations have a real impact“, Says Yuliia Pavytska, head of the penalty program of the Kiev Economics School institute.” Not all sanctioned ships remain inactive after their inclusion in the list “, he warned, noting that many have loaded Russ’s flat in the shadows” from the European waters to hinder his navigation capacity.
The international maritime law establishes the right of an innocent passage, which forces all states to guarantee traffic without obstacles or discrimination of foreign ships. The law involves a heavy test burden to justify the approach and arrest of a foreign ship, which is considered a radical option that must be based on clear reasons of illegal activity,As Finland did when he stopped the eagle s With suspicions of sabotage and vandalism.
In theory, expanding the interpretation of this right to allow the authorities to intercept and stop the ships of the “ghost fleet” on a wide and regular scale would allow the EU to transport their repression, criticized to be too incremental, to the subsequent level of efficiency. In a Recent studyThe International Institute of Strategic Studies (IIS) warned that such an aggressive plan would encourage “revisionist states”, such as China, Iran and Russia, “Abusing the system more than they have already done” and “leave the West more vulnerable to the accusations of inconsistency in the application of global principles”.
