Eight sanctioned Russian tankers are currently in the English Channel but the Navy isn’t seizing them, despite new powers to do so.
While ministers insist Britain is prepared to act against Vladimir Putin’s illicit vessels, military, legal and diplomatic constraints appear to be slowing any decisive intervention.
For months, officials in Whitehall and the armed forces have worked to establish the legal framework required to intercept vessels suspected of fueling Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
In January, the UK strengthened its legal position to detain sanctioned Russian ships near its waters and last week, Keir Starmer authorised military personnel to carry out forced boardings.
Behind the scenes, naval units and special forces teams are on standby with the capability to rapidly intercept and secure vessels. Yet no seizures have taken place.
A senior NATO official told The i Paper the UK is “not entirely ready,” to launch seizures, pointing to the Whitehall’s nervousness about the legality of operations at sea, the risk of interdictions going wrong, and the need for any seizure to require sign off at the highest level.
In announcing the military’s new powers, Starmer said Putin should be in “no doubt” that “we’re going after his shadow fleet even harder”.
But as rhetoric has not resulted in action the Russian President is calling Downing Street’s bluff.
Putin testing British resolve
After initially veering away from UK waters in the wake of the statement, Russia’s Shadow Fleet vessels have returned to UK seas.
On Sunday, four sanctioned ships loitered around key UK undersea infrastructure while at least seven sanctioned vessels suspected of fueling Moscow’s war on Ukraine passing through the Channel.
At the time of publication, eight vessels sanctioned by the Foreign Office were traversing through the Channel unchallenged. Six of them sailing under false flags while two are overtly Russian – all of them don’t have insurance.
Conservative MP and former British Army Officer, Ben Obese-Jecty, said the presence of tankers unchallenged in the Channel had the effect of “emboldening our adversaries” by showing an “unwillingness to take action”.
“Last week the Prime Minister finally reached the conclusion that our allies had long since arrived at, and announced permission for our forces to board sanctioned Russian shadow fleet vessels,” he told The i Paper. “So why are they now transiting through the channel with impunity?”
With so many dark-fleet ships sailing in or near to British seas daily, exactly how or when the Government plans to determine which vessels to seize remains unclear amid practical and legal limitations.
Belgium, Sweden and France have all carried out seizures of suspected Russian ships this year as part of an allied crackdown on the Kremlin’s Shadow Fleet. In each case, the ships were sanctioned, and operating under false flags without insurance.
Meanwhile, hundreds of such vessels have continued to pass through or near British waters with little interference.
Legal tightrope at sea
At the heart of the issue lies a delicate legal balancing act. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ships must sail under the flag of a single state. Vessels operating without legitimate registration can be boarded by any nation who suspects wrongdoing. This principle has already been tested when the US boarded the Bella-1 after it changed its flag mid-voyage.
The UK is also relying on the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, which allows authorities to detain or seize vessels breaching sanctions, particularly those transporting Russian oil. The UK has sanctioned 544 Russian shadow fleet vessels to date, more than any other country.
Lars H. Bergqvist, a Reserve Officer in the Royal Swedish Navy and a former United Nations Military Observer, with peacekeeping experience from the Middle East and the Balkans, said Britain is likely wary of testing these powers prematurely.
“The seizure should take place in territorial waters,” he said. “The UK may also hesitate because Russia could respond by boarding UK flagged ships.”
High-risk operations
Even with legal authority, boarding a tanker at sea is a complex and potentially dangerous operation.
The UK’s elite maritime units in the Special Boat Service and Royal Marines are trained for such operations. A previous seizure in 2020 demonstrated their capability, when special forces seized a tanker in the Channel in under ten minutes.
But scaling that capability to address the sheer number of shadow fleet vessels presents a major challenge.
A former UK Special Forces officer described the idea of intercepting every suspect tanker as “inconceivable.”
“The level of planning is high risk,” they said. “You’re dealing with weather, vessel speed, unknown crews — potentially armed — and the constant possibility of something going wrong.”
UK Royal Marines in Norway during a Nato exercise in 2022 (Photo: NATO /Getty)Each operation requires extensive preparation, political approval, legal clearance, intelligence gathering and detailed mission planning.
A military intelligence source said the current lack of action may suggest that the intelligence gathering part of the equation is underway.
“There may be an intelligence ‘soak’ going on,” they said, referring to the process of gathering detailed surveillance on potential targets. “It’s about understanding what resistance a boarding team might face and refining the plan before committing forces.”
Watching and waiting
UK authorities, alongside Nato Maritime Command, have been tracking suspect vessels closely. Satellites, maritime patrol aircraft and intelligence networks monitor their movements as they sail near or within British waters.
For now, the result is a cautious approach. Yet with shadow fleet vessels continuing to transit the Channel, and allies already taking a more aggressive stance, pressure is mounting on the UK to turn its legal powers into visceral enforcement.
Until it does, Putin is showing that he will continue to test Britain’s resolve.
An MoD Spokesperson said: “The UK keeps maritime activity in the Channel under constant review. Any enforcement action is considered on a case by case basis, in accordance with international law and domestic legislation.
“We will not provide a running commentary or get into details of our decision-making process as this could compromise our ability to successfully take action against sanctioned ships, only benefitting our adversaries.”
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