Two sanctioned Russian ships currently sailing through the English Channel are among at least 50 suspected shadow tankers to have closed in on UK waters in the past three days, The i Paper can reveal.
A day after British forces helped the US seize a runaway Russian tanker just over 100 miles from UK waters, a second “zombie” vessel sailed through the Channel under a false name.
It was sanctioned by the US in 2024 while carrying the name Tia. It now uses a fake name – Tavian – to evade detection while carrying oil across the globe, providing a huge income source for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Another tanker sailing under the Barbados flag, the Aria, and sanctioned by the US in January last year, entered the English Channel on Thursday. The ship is similarly suspected of enabling illicit Russian oil trades.
According to open-source tracking data provided by Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the three ships are among at least 50 suspected to be in Vladimir Putin’s “shadow fleet” that have sailed either in or near UK waters over the past three days.
It can also be revealed that another tanker, the Voskhod – also sanctioned and suspected to be part of the Kremlin’s shadow fleet – sailed out of the UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) – a 200 mile buffer from a country’s shoreline – on Tuesday, a day before the US raid on the Bella 1.
The Voskhod was sanctioned by the UK Foreign Office in October for carrying goods from Russia to “a third country” that could contribute to “threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.” Under the terms of the sanctions the ship is prohibited access to UK ports and may be subject to a “detention direction, and a port entry direction or a movement direction”.
However, the Russian-flagged ship sailed away past the coast of Ireland and is now sailing off the shore of western Spain.
Mark Douglas, Starboard Maritime Intelligence, told The i Paper that an increase in sea ice has closed the northern passage route along Russia’s northern Arctic coast, meaning many more vessels are expected to take the route around UK waters.
He said: “The fact that 50 such vessels continue to operate is a concern, not just for the continued flow of oil and other goods to feed Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, but also the risk that these vessels travelling – which are often old and lack proper management and oversight – pose to critical maritime and underwater infrastructure and the environment.”
The British Government signaled it was prepared to seize more of Putin’s so-called “shadow fleet” after the successful seizure of the MV Marinera, formerly the Bella-1, by US special forces assisted by the RAF and Royal Navy.
The operation was carried out in a stretch of sea between the UK and Iceland after a two week-long cat-and-mouse pursuit across the Atlantic.
British airbases were used as the launchpad for the mission to board the ship while RFA Tideforce, a Royal Navy tanker, provided support for pursuing and interdicting the Bella 1. The RAF also provided surveillance support from the air, as first reported by The i Paper.
Following the operation, Defence Secretary John Healey described disrupting the shadow fleet as a “priority for the Government.”
“The UK will not stand by as malign activity increases on the high seas. And alongside our Allies, we are stepping up our response against shadow vessels – and we will continue do to.”
The list of 50 sanctioned vessels includes ships which are sailing overtly under the Russian flag as well as those sailing under suspected false-flags, essentially masking their identity by claiming to be owned by another state.
Under UN laws, the UK would be able to board a vessel passing near its waters if it suspected it was sailing under a false flag. The UK would be further emboldened if the ship sailed into its territorial seas – an area of 12 nautical miles from the coast.
But with such a scale of sanctioned Russian dark fleet ships using British waters on a daily basis, exactly how the UK Government plans on tackling the issue remains unclear amid practical and legal limitations around what the UK could do.
Shipping laws leave loopholes for malign actors to ‘exploit’
Putin relies on a vast network of over 1,400 shadow fleet vessels to evade sanctions, enable illicit trade deals, and launch hybrid warfare operations in the West.
The United States has blacklisted 744 active tankers, while the UK has blacklisted 549. The overlap between both lists is 235 tankers. When adding the EU’s 580 blacklisted tankers to the mix, the overlap across all three authorities is just 195 tankers.
Experts say there needs first to be unification of sanction lists between allies to help properly identify clandestine ships in order for officials to halt them.
Emma Salisbury, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said it was “encouraging” to see the recent action from the US and UK but warned the rules and laws around commercial shipping are “complicated” leaving loopholes and “unwatched corners for malign actors to exploit.”
Despite being accused of running nefarious trades under international sanctions, the legality of launching seizures of these ships is still limited under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The internationally recognised laws state that ships, even if sanctioned, are to be given the right of innocent passage through international seas. However, under the same convention, a ship cannot change its flag mid-voyage – which led to the legal argument for the Marinera to be seized.
The US Coast Guard observing the Marinera tanker following the US seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker (Photo: PA)The English Channel, while partly falling within UK territorial waters – an area of sea where Britain would have much more jurisidiction to act – is an internationally recognised passage for shipping. Therefore ships can pass innocently unless there is suspected criminality being conducted by the vessel.
“The UK and European allies should tighten legislation on such ships passing through their waters, particularly building on existing international law around false flagging, lack of insurance, and seaworthiness, making it easier for suspicious ships to be queried and boarded,” Salisbury said. “Russia will keep using its shadow fleet while it can get away with it, so more enforcement is vital.”
How UK special forces would intercept Putin’s tankers – and why they won’t
If UK authorities were able to establish the political will, and legal clearance for a boarding of a suspected vessel they would also have to fire up an impressive fleet of special forces personnel and equiptment to carry out the operation.
The seizure of the Marinera involved the use of an impressive hauk of specialised helicopters, gunships, and surveillance aircraft. It also involved the use of a Royal Navy tanker, RFA Tideforce, RAF aircraft.
A former UK special forces officer who carried out vessel boardings, and wished to not be named, said “the reality” is that it would be “inconceivable” for the UK to tackle each Russian Shadow Fleet tanker they saw.
“The level of planning, it is high risk,” they said. “Its inconceivable that the UK are going to be doing this on a mass scale.”
US forces apprehended a second stateless tanker, the M/T Sophia, in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday (Photo: X/Southcom)They added that for each boarding mission the Ministry of Defence would need to deploy a special forces squadron specified in maritime operations, along with at least two surveillance aircraft, a refueling tanker, and specialist helicopters.
“Fundamentally the reality is the UK wouldn’t have the confidence to conduct a seizure independently,” they added.
The Ministry of Defence refused to comment on specific vessels currently operating in the channel, but reafirmed that “deterring, disrupting and degrading” the Russian shadow fleet is a “priority” for the UK government.
In October, the UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, sent a clear message to Putin: “If Nato is threatened, we will act.”
The UK may now be tested on those words.
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