Sanctioned Shadow Fleet Oil Tankers Threaten Environmental Disaster, FT Reports
Ship recyclers say at least one-third should be scrapped as aging, underinsured vessels raise the chance of a major spill, FT reported.
- Russia operates an estimated 300-600 aging, often underinsured tankers to bypass international trade restrictions, creating significant environmental and safety risks to global waters.
- Tanker broker Clarksons estimates roughly 1,500 oil tankers exist within the global sanctions fleet, which Alexander Saverys, chief executive of CMB Tech, calls a "ticking time bomb" due to lack of insurance and substandard crews.
- Anil Sharma, chief executive of GMS Leadership, told the Financial Times that "minimum one-third" of shadow vessels should be scrapped, warning that "luck was running out" to avoid a disaster like the 1979 Atlantic Empress crash.
- Russian vessels have already caused localized incidents, including leaking fuel into the Black Sea, while German maritime crews had to tow a disabled tanker from the Baltic Sea following a storm in the Kerch Strait.
- Western officials worry these vessels link to broader Russian hybrid activities in Europe, and Russia has caused extensive environmental damage throughout the war in Ukraine, including the 2023 destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam.
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13 Articles
More than half shadow fleet’s oil tankers are corroding toward disaster, top recycler warns
More than half of the world's fleet of sanctioned oil tankers is corroding and could cause a major environmental disaster, the head of the world's largest ship-recycling company warned the Financial Times. These are the ships that keep sanctioned oil flowing despite Western restrictions. This week, US authorities cleared the first four such ships for recycling. Russia built this sanctions-dodging armada of old vessels after 2022 to keep its oil …
More than half of Russian tankers are in a dangerous technical condition.
FT: The Shadow Fleet has become a "time bomb"
Most of the shadow fleet tankers are old ships affected by corrosion, which dramatically increases the risk of oil spills and threatens a large—scale environmental disaster, Anil Sharma, executive director of the international consulting company GMS Partnership…
What global catastrophe is brewing in the ocean? More than half of the "shadow fleet" tankers are in critical condition and pose a threat of a major environmental disaster, the head of the world's largest ship recycling company warned. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Financial Times. Read also: Attacked tankers near Turkey have long been a focus of Ukraine's attention: what is known about them? What is the danger? GMS Partnership CE…
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