Participants in Gibraltar’s environmental societies held a protest against the passage of shadow fleet tankers through the strait. More than a hundred participants came out with posters reading «We will not allow the Mediterranean to be polluted», «No to the shadow fleet», «No to bloody oil».
The participants in the action explained that they are increasingly concerned about the increase in the number of trips of shadow fleet tankers through the strait. First of all, environmentalists are concerned about the accident rate of ships. The fact is that, as a rule, these are tankers older than 15 years, which do not meet environmental standards. Therefore, accidents often happen to them, which are manifested primarily in oil spills into the sea. Environmentalists are also concerned about the practices of oil transshipment, which tankers often use in the Mediterranean Sea to hide the origin of the cargo.
Therefore, environmentalists advocate strengthening measures against the Russian shadow fleet, in particular, increasing the number of European Union naval missions in the Mediterranean Sea, which could inspect sanctioned tankers and arrest them if violations are detected, banning the provision of maritime services in European Union ports, and increasing the number of sanctioned vessels.
