The member states of «G-7», together with the Western countries on both sides of the Atlantic, are trying to create such conditions that Russian Urals oil is sold in accordance with the so-called «price ceiling». Every three months, at the level of the European Union, there is a revision and adjustment of the «price ceiling, which is established on the basis of the average price of oil on the world market for the last three months. On July 18, 2025, EU member states adopted another (18th at that time) package of sanctions, including limiting the lower limit of the price per barrel of Russian oil. Thus, the Urals crude oil cut-off price was reduced from $60 to $47.6 per barrel. All these efforts are made by Western countries due to the fact that the funds received from the sale of oil continue to make up at least a third of the revenues of the federal budget of the Russian Federation. It is quite obvious that it is Moscow’s excess profits from the sale of hydrocarbons that give it the opportunity to continue implementing its aggressive foreign policy, including conducting military operations against Ukraine. For their part, Russia, its allies and the importing states of large volumes of Russian oil (China, India, Turkey) are trying to circumvent the restrictions associated with the Western «price ceiling». For this, the «shadow fleet» is used, consisting, for the most part, of old ships.
It should be noted that oil tankers usually last 25-35 years, but this period can be both shorter and longer, depending on operating conditions, regular maintenance and type of vessel.
By the time of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops in February 2022 (and Western sanctions in response), the old tankers had been written off without delay, as the basic maintenance costs of the ships exceed the potential profit from their sale for scrap metal. However, the Russian-Ukrainian war and the global confrontation between Russia and the West made significant adjustments to the business of sea transportation. The old tankers could now be sold profitably to Russia, its partner countries (India, Vietnam, Hong Kong) or, in general, to some unknown firms in offshore zones (for example, in the Seychelles). After the sale, the ship is given a new name and a new place of registration. Most of these obsolete vessels are newly registered in countries with milder regulations for maritime transport, such as Panama and Liberia. It is believed that the conditional «shadow fleet», whose services are extremely actively used by Moscow, includes up to 900 tankers. According to rough estimates, 40% of these vessels come from the USA and European countries, primarily Greece, as well as – Cyprus and Malta. In total, Western shipowners earned more than $6.3 billion from the sale of old tankers that made it into the «shadow fleet»!
Investigative journalists counted 54 Greek companies that successfully got rid of old ships, earning at least $3.7 billion from their sale. For example, the 20-year-old tanker Aris was sold by its Greek owner –, Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. – to an offshore company in the Marshall Islands for €21 million. Two weeks later, the ship returned to sea with a new flag – Cook Islands, with a new name – Canis Power and a new task – to transport Urals crude oil. In this context, it should be noted that EU restrictions from 2023 prohibit the direct sale of oil tankers to Russian companies, however, the cooperation of shipowners with enterprises of countries that have not joined the anti-Russian sanctions does not violate EU laws, which creates a loophole in the West’s attempts to limit Putin’s ability Russia to finance the war against Ukraine. As one of the experts states, the tanker can be resold three times in three weeks, because companies that trade such ships know how to avoid problems during their transactions.
The Special Envoy for the implementation of EU sanctions, in connection with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, David O’Sullivan, explained that European companies are obliged to ensure that their ships are not used to circumvent sanctions. As part of the ban on direct sales of ships to Russian firms, the EU also ordered European shipowners to report deliveries to buyers outside the United Europe. According to him, the authorities cannot block such agreements, but hope that this requirement will force traders to carefully consider an agreement that may contribute to the circumvention of sanctions. At the same time, David O’Sullivan admitted that certain schemes to circumvent Western restrictions against the Russian Federation will always exist. At the same time, he expressed his belief that sanctions are slowly but steadily complicating and making the economic activity of Russians much more costly. It should also be noted that in most cases, old tankers that got into the «shadow fleet» of the Russian Federation go to sea or, in general, without insurance documents, or with insurances of dubious origin. Such insurances (which are actually worthless) are easily provided by «one-day firms with a charter capital of » 1 thousand, despite the fact that insurance cases may require multimillion-dollar expenses. Of course, no well-known Western insurance company will provide insurance to an outdated tanker deprived of proper maintenance. Therefore, ships from the «shadow fleet» of the Russian Federation very often resort to the services of little-known insurance companies located in India and the Persian Gulf states. Therefore, the intensive operation of old tankers with no reliable insurance significantly increases the probability of technical problems in the open sea and, as a result, environmental disasters for which no one will bear real responsibility.
Today, the US, Great Britain and the EU are taking steps to prevent the expansion of the «shadow fleet and level its activities, however, their efforts require much greater coordination and increased control by the relevant agencies.
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