Dark fleet bigger ‘problem’ than shipping acknowledges

THE dark fleet “problem” is even worse than shipping acknowledges, according to Cargill president of ocean transportation Jan Dieleman.

Speaking during the first panel session at Nor-Shipping, Dieleman highlighted the potential “devastating” side effects of sanctions, referring to the growing fleet of often elderly and poorly maintained tankers serving oil trades from Russia and Iran in particular.

He said the topic was too quickly glossed over without a true appreciation of what a bifurcated shipping industry means: a large percentage of “really poorly governed ships”.

Despite the now well-documented split in the global fleet, Dieleman reiterated an obvious but oft-forgotten point: these vessels do not trade in a vacuum, they share the “same ocean” and “go to the same ports”.

Several nations have already highlighted what a dark fleet tanker spill would mean for their coastlines, particularly in the ecologically fragile Baltic Sea.

But despite a deluge of sanctions on companies, individuals and vessels themselves, Iran and, more pertinently, Russia, continues to find a market for its oil.

Former UK minister for energy and clean growth Claire O’Neill noted the recent pressure the US administration placed on the Panamanian flag registry, which deflagged hundreds of sanctioned tankers and continues to speed up its deflagging process.

In February, director of the general directorate of the merchant marine Ramon Franco said his registry was “not a shelter for sanctions evasion” after US senators accused it of facilitating Iranian oil trade.

Just yesterday, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) confirmed it had excluded more than 650 vessels since 2019, responding to the accusation made by United Against Nuclear Iran chief executive Mark Wallace that Panama was the “flag of choice for sanctions violators and oil smugglers”.

Wallace said that despite the registry’s “spin room claims of progress”, the authority was still failing to “end its complicity in Iranian oil smuggling”.

Franco told Lloyd’s List last year that his registry was aware it had to do some “housekeeping”.

O’Neill called the kind of pressure Panama has faced “fairly unprecedented”, but wondered whether India may come under similar scrutiny as a major buyer of Russian oil.

If Trump wanted to end the war in Ukraine as quickly as he promised on the campaign trail, O’Neill said, he would have to come to terms with the fact Russia’s economy was not doing as bad as many thought, despite seemingly endless sanctions since Russian troops crossed the border in 2022.

India, on the other hand, continues to signal its adherence to the so-called “third way” or non-aligned movement policy it pursued at the height of the Cold War, happily trading with both centres of power in the world.

The country’s Directorate General of Shipping has continued to add Russian companies that are sanctioned by the west to its list of acceptable insurers, in a time when the UK and EU have begun demanding proof of insurance they deem acceptable from tankers sailing through their waters.

The balancing act between sticking to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Lloyd’s List understands all states are keen to adhere to, while challenging the dark fleet has become increasingly tricky.

Russian fighter jets crossed into Estonian airspace last month, after the Estonian navy escorted tanker Jaguar (IMO: 9293002) out of its waters. Nato jets were scrambled in response.

But the challenges have proven useful intelligence-gathering exercises, for the UK in particular, with some tankers challenged first and then sanctioned later.

Visibility, O’Neill said, wasn’t what was holding Western governments back.

“We know where they are, we can see what they’re doing,” she told the audience in Oslo.

“We have all the data, we just lack the political will.”

Lloyd's List Daily Briefing 3 June 2025

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