A 1,000-vessel “dark fleet” evading sanctions has become a focal point for U.S. and Ukrainian efforts to combat illicit oil trade, posing significant geopolitical and environmental risks.
A fleet of approximately 1,000 rogue oil tankers, known as the “dark fleet,” is now a primary target for the United States and Ukraine, according to a senior maritime intelligence analyst. Michelle Wiese Bockmann has highlighted the geopolitical risks and potential for catastrophic oil spills associated with this aging fleet.
Bockmann warned that these vessels are integral to the economies of sanctioned nations, including Iran, Venezuela, and Russia. “These vessels are a lifeline for these regimes, because they’re used for shipping oil to fund the war in Ukraine, and also give money to the illicit Maduro regime,” she stated in an interview.
The emergence of this dark fleet represents a new challenge for the U.S. and Ukraine. Bockmann noted that recent actions, including U.S. seizures of oil tankers in Venezuela and Ukrainian drone strikes in the Black Sea, mark a significant shift in strategy. “There is a new strategy to deal with this dark fleet, which is the lifeline of sanctioned oil revenues, and now under attack by the U.S. and Ukraine,” she explained. “This is all to counter what we call gray-zone aggression.”
Ukrainian naval drone strikes have recently targeted several tankers in the Black Sea, including the Dashan, which is part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. Bockmann emphasized the dangers posed by these operations, stating, “It is dangerous and could be interpreted as a form of gray-zone aggression in order to continue to keep oil revenue flowing.” She also warned of the environmental risks associated with poorly maintained and uninsured ships, calling it “a billion-dollar oil spill catastrophe waiting to happen.”
According to Bockmann, a subset of 350 to 400 vessels at any given time are not only sanctioned but also falsely flying flags, which poses significant risks. “False registration leaves vessels stateless and uninsured, putting crews at risk,” she said. “This is a huge issue for maritime safety; it’s a menace to the environment, and it entails crew welfare.”
These vessels are typically older and are exclusively used for sanctioned oil trades. Many of them manipulate their Automatic Identification System (AIS) to misrepresent their locations. “They use false flagging, but also spoofing and manipulating its AIS to show it’s in one place when it’s not,” Bockmann explained. “These vessels have also gone to fraudulent registries that don’t exist, which means they have no insurance.”
To combat these illicit operations, U.S. forces have utilized legal tools, including Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which allows for the boarding of stateless vessels. Bockmann believes that U.S. forces have effectively employed this article to remove these vessels from global trade.
In a recent operation in the Caribbean, U.S. forces seized the tanker Skipper, which had been sanctioned in 2022 and was found to be masking its location. This seizure was part of a broader campaign aimed at disrupting illicit oil shipping. Bockmann noted that the Skipper was carrying 1.8 million barrels of uninsured oil, representing a significant potential maritime disaster.
On December 12, Attorney General Pam Bondi characterized the U.S. seizure of the Venezuelan crude tanker as a sanctions-enforcement action rooted in a federal court warrant. Meanwhile, Ukraine has targeted multiple alleged shadow fleet tankers with sea drones, focusing on those in ballast, meaning they were not carrying oil at the time.
Bockmann pointed out that the tankers targeted by Ukraine were also falsely flagged, similar to the recent case of the three tankers attacked in Ukraine. “That flag was Gambia. In the U.S. case of Skipper, the flag was Guyana,” she noted.
The ongoing efforts by the U.S. and Ukraine to dismantle this dark fleet reflect a growing recognition of the threats posed by these vessels, both to global security and the environment. As the situation evolves, the international community will be watching closely to see how these strategies unfold.
According to Fox News Digital, the implications of these operations extend beyond immediate geopolitical concerns, highlighting the need for increased vigilance in maritime safety and environmental protection.