Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2025)

Maritime Risk © MomentsCatcher/AdobeStock

SHADOW AND DARK FLEETS:

Increasing in Size, Increasing Concerns

By Captain Rahul Khanna, Global Head of Marine Risk Consulting, Allianz Commercial lobal insurer Allianz Commercial recently issued 80% of Russia’s oil exports are now thought to be shipped on its 2025 Safety & Shipping Review, examining shadow tankers.

maritime risk trends and losses. The report re- While de? nitions of shadow ? eet vessels differ, they are

Gvealed that the shipping industry has made sig- typically older vessels (15+ years) that are poorly maintained ni? cant improvements when it comes to maritime safety in and hold insuf? cient or no insurance. Sailing under ? ags of recent years. During the 1990s the global ? eet was losing convenience, they take steps to obscure their true ownership 200+ vessels a year. This total had halved 10 years ago and is and employ various risky tactics to avoid detection, such as now down to a record low of 27 as of the end of 2024 (from switching off automatic identi? cation systems (going dark) 35 in 2023). and the use of dangerous ship-to-ship transfers in internation-

Despite the ongoing trend for fewer large losses, challenges al waters off Russia, Malaysia, Malta, Greece, South Korea, remain. Shipowners are trying to operate vessels safely within Oman and the UAE to name some of the major hotspots.

an ever-changing and dynamic regulatory framework and do As a result, a signi? cant proportion of the world tankers the right thing while managing a host of complex issues. One ? eet is now operating outside Western jurisdiction, with mini- such risk is the rise of the shadow ? eet, comprised of mostly mal oversight and little or no insurance. older, poorly maintained oil tankers, which has expanded rapid- Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the size of the shadow ly, posing signi? cant maritime safety and environmental risks. ? eet has exploded. Today, around 17% of the world tanker

Shadow ? eet risks ? eet is thought to belong to the shadow ? eet: S&P Global es-

In July 2024, the Singapore-? agged oil tanker Hafnia Nile timates that there are approximately 591 shadow ? eet tankers collided with the dark ? eet super tanker Ceres I off Malaysia’s trading Russian oil alone, while the Kyiv School of Econom- east coast, causing both vessels to catch ? re. The incident fol- ics puts the number at around 435. The Centre for Research lowed the detention of shadow ? eet tanker Andromeda Star by on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reckons that an average of

Danish authorities in March 2024 after the 15-year-old vessel three shadow tankers leave Russian ports daily.

collided with the Bulgarian-? agged cargo ship Peace. According to CREA, 72% of shadow tankers are over 15

Shadow ? eet or dark ? eet tankers illegally trade oil subject years old. It also estimates that the cleanup costs for an oil spill to Western sanctions and embargoes. While the shadow ? eet involving a shadow tanker could be as much as US$1.6bn.

initially grew out of the illicit trade in Iranian and Venezuelan Although western efforts to tackle the growth in the shadow oil, it has increased signi? cantly with the imposition of sanc- ? eet have intensi? ed with EU, UK and US sanctions packages tions and the international price cap on Russian oil. Around and the targeting of companies that support the operations of 16 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • June 2025

MR #6 (1-17).indd 16 MR #6 (1-17).indd 16 5/31/2025 8:39:49 PM5/31/2025 8:39:49 PM