EU and UK Shadow Fleet Sanctions
The EU and UK unleashed a wave of sanctions on Russia' shadow fleet this month
Two weeks ago, I wrote a post about sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet, which plays a critical role in funding Putin’s war economy. Since then, the EU and UK unleashed a wave of sanctions, including on shadow fleet oil tankers. Of the 343 shadow fleet ships I track, 318 are now sanctioned by the US, UK or EU, leaving just 25 unsanctioned. However, overlap of Western sanctions remains woefully inadequate. Only 43 ships are jointly sanctioned by the US, UK and EU, a number that should be much higher. More needs to be done to coordinate sanctions for maximum impact.
The chart is a visual representation of the database I maintain on Russia’s shadow fleet. The purple box represents the 343 oil tankers I track, of which 318 are now sanctioned by the US, UK or EU, leaving just 25 ships unsanctioned. The US has sanctioned 169 shadow fleet ships, a number that’s been unchanged since the Biden administration - in its waning days - sanctioned a large number of vessels. As of today, the EU has sanctioned 235 vessels, while the UK has sanctioned 174 ships.
There is considerable overlap across sanctions by these three jurisdictions, but not nearly enough. Only 43 vessels are sanctioned jointly by the US, UK and EU, a number that should be far higher. 174 ships are sanctioned by two jurisdictions, while 101 are sanctioned by only one jurisdiction. For maximum impact, sanctions by the US, UK and EU should be better aligned, meaning there should be much greater overlap of the three circles in the chart. This is because - as I’ll discuss in follow-up posts later this week - jointly sanctioning vessels stands the best chance of shutting them down and eliminating the shadow fleet as Putin’s most important economic weapon.
It should be noted that the database of 343 shadow fleet vessels is just a subset of the shadow fleet, which is estimated to be far larger. The fact that 318 out of 343 ships are now sanctioned therefore overstates - perhaps substantially - how much progress the West has made in hitting Putin’s shadow fleet. Much more work remains to be done, but better coordination of Western sanctions to maximize overlap is low-hanging fruit.
Really appreciate you sharing this. I agree that aligning sanctions is low-hanging fruit, and it’s shocking that only 43 vessels are sanctioned jointly by the US, UK, and EU out of 343 tracked. It feels like a strategic failure.
I’ve also been following the NATO Baltic Sentry mission and started wondering:
Is the core issue weak sanctions, or the lack of coordinated enforcement?
From where I’m sitting, it seems like Russia is testing both.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/18/eu-foreign-ministers-call-for-coordinated-action-on-russian-shadow-fleet-in-baltic-sea
It’s great that you track this. Thank you.