Russian Shadow Tankers Are at Risk in the Baltic Environmental Crisis

The Kremlin’s shadow fleets not only pose a threat to the control of the world’s oceans: they are also a serious environmental threat.

The environmental group Greenpeace has analyzed the dangers that Russian shadow vessels can create in the Baltic Sea when their ships go from its Baltic ports to the Danish Straits, and from there, to their destination. The consequences can be devastating.

The number of Russian oil tankers passing through Germany’s Baltic coast is now 70% higher than before the conflict in Ukraine, an environmental group found in a September 24 report. In addition, the tankers are almost twice as old as the tankers plying this route before the war, and are in poor repair.

“Can’t Greenpeace do anything about it?” a journalist asked me during a discussion about shadow ships towards the end of 2022. I admit that I had not thought about that possibility, but the question made me realize that environmental groups they should take the shadow of the ships.

They should because this collection of aging ships carrying Russian raw food allowed to ship to the likes of India and China poses a serious and immediate threat to the waters they cross. Not only do they lack proper insurance but they are also old and poorly maintained. In fact, many shadow ships were relegated to the junkyard until secret societies saw an opportunity to make money and took them over. And these days, the export of oil – especially above the price set by Western nations – is how Russia makes money to support its war machine.

That means many old, poorly maintained ships carrying Russian oil cross the Baltic Sea to the Danish Straits and on to their destinations. These ships pose a serious threat to the marine environment. In April, Greenpeace activists went to ships carrying hazardous marine oil off the coast of Gotland and, in true Greenpeace style, painted slogans on them. “Oil fuels war” and “People want peace,” the messages said.

Now the environmental group has reported the activity of shadow boats in the Baltic Sea. In fact, in the report of September 24, the researchers of the German group recorded the ships leaving the Russian ports and traveling along the Baltic coast of Germany on their way to the Danish Straits. Last year, about 1,000 tankers carrying Russian oil passed the German coast, the highest number ever recorded.

The dishes are old, very old. Greenpeace reports that their average age is now 16.6 years, up from 8.9 years before the war. Two-thirds do not have personal protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance, which covers serious emergencies. Because the world’s P&I insurers are based in Western countries and follow Western sanctions, shadow ships turn to other protection, which often does not appear to be covered at all.

All these facts suggest that most of the tankers carrying Russian oil in German waters belong to so-called offshore vessels.

Worse still, the route taken by these rusts includes bird sanctuaries and natural areas such as the Fehmarn Belt and the Kadet Trench. For example, on August 22, two out of three ships sailing off the coast of Germany did not have P&I insurance. They were 17, 18, and 20 years old respectively. One of them, is Chiliit has repeatedly had an error in the port scan. Last July, Indian port inspectors noticed that the ship was rotting. In March, inspectors at the Indian port of Sikka found Chili having no less than six mistakes and caught him.

Three tankers a day are on the road, so there is a potential risk of an oil spill or other environmental hazard every day of the year, and these are large vessels that each which can take tens of thousands of waste. What can be done to keep shadow boats with the daily risk of massive oil spills away from our waters? I follow the ships every day, and I can’t think of a quick fix that hasn’t been tried yet (although I’m suggesting some ideas soon to be released by the Atlantic Council.)

However, the new partnership is just one step. Greenpeace will not be able to deal with shadow boats alone, just like the US government cannot. But for once, Western governments and environmental groups are completely united, or should be. That’s a good start.

Elisabeth Braw is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.

European border is CEPA’s online journal covering key topics in foreign policy policy in Europe and North America. All views are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the organizations they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.