Russia is using its 'dark fleet' of ships to skirt oil sanctions, raising the risk of tanker collisions, insurance firms say

• Russia is using a "dark fleet" of ships to transport its oil, but that's raising the risk of ship collisions, insurance firms say.
• Russia began assembling the tankers last year to skirt Western sanctions on its oil exports.

Russia is relying on its "dark fleet" of oil tankers to skirt Western sanctions, but that's raising the risk of ship collisions out at sea, according to industry experts, who have flagged concerns as Russia attempts to evade trade restrictions.

Executives from maritime shipping and insurance firms have said Russia's growing collection of shadow tankers is raising safety risks for other oil tankers, as they could easily collide with Russia's shadow fleet.

Those are Russian ships that often sail uninsured and outside of current trade rules by turning off their transponders, which help identify and locate vessels.

"It's a problem that we've tried to explain to governments," NorthStandard P&I Club executive Mike Salthouse told Reuters on Thursday. "It's in nobody's interest having uninsured ships with dangerous cargo on board floating around, unable to receive payments and everything else."

Industry experts say shadow tankers are typically bought anonymously, and most are largely believed to transport Russian oil. As of late 2022, Russia had amassed around 270 ships in its dark fleet, according to an estimate from Norway SEB.

Russia began putting together its secretive fleet of tankers last year to evade Western sanctions, in particular, to get around the $60-per-barrel price cap that prevents Russian oil suppliers from using Western shipping and insurance services unless crude is sold below that threshold.

Around 50% of Russia's oil sales are now conducted with its dark fleet, one group of researchers estimated, adding that the majority of Russian crude was being sold well-above the price cap.

Russian oil suppliers have also been suspected of conducting ship-to-ship transfers, "spoofing" a ship's identification system, or falsifying documents to disguise the origin of Russian oil.

Those measures could be leading US firms to inadvertently facilitate trade of Russian crude outside the price cap, the US Treasury said in an alert this month, foiling Western nations' attempts to crimp Russia's energy revenue.