Researchers from the university centers of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Trondheim have published a report in which they noted the growing danger from the ships of the Russian shadow fleet. In particular, they emphasize the extremely powerful danger of these ships to the environment, the use of these ships in terrorist and espionage activities and the strengthening of Europe’s economic dependence on Russia.
Actually, if we talk about environmental dependence, here, first of all, the researchers highlight the fact that, as a rule, the tankers of the shadow flotilla, they are very old, move without insurance and often use dangerous practices. In particular, they move with transponders turned off, which can lead to a collision in the open ocean. Also unusually dangerous is the practice of oil transfer, which is especially actively used among shadow ships at sea.
This is primarily when ships try to hide the origin of the oil, and accordingly, oil is transferred between them by tankers on the high seas. This procedure is quite dangerous and can lead to oil spills. Recently, there has also been an increasing number of cases of tankers being used as reconnaissance tools, including the launch of reconnaissance UAVs from them to monitor European military and transport facilities, as well as the tracking of these ships by NATO naval bases.
The spills indicate the need to strengthen the fight against the shadow fleet, including the imposition of increasingly stringent sanctions, increased control over the passage of such ships, and the introduction of new European Union military police missions on the high seas to arrest shadowy tankers.
