The ‘Ghost Fleets’ Moving Oil Around the World

What It Covers

The Trump administration escalates enforcement against shadow fleet oil tankers transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. Visual investigations reporter Christiaan Triebert explains how these vessels use deceptive practices to evade detection, and how recent US military operations mark a dramatic shift from years of non-enforcement.

Key Questions Answered

• •Shadow fleet scale: Approximately 10-20% of global oil tankers engage in deceptive practices to transport sanctioned oil, representing 3-9% of world oil market share. These vessels primarily ship Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil to China and India, generating significant revenue despite sanctions that previously relied on self-regulation rather than military enforcement.
• •Deception techniques: Ghost fleet tankers employ three primary methods to avoid detection: switching off transponder signals to go dark, spoofing location data to fake positions off West Africa or Asia, and physically obscuring ship names using bedsheets or repainting hulls with names of scrapped vessels. Crews inadvertently reveal locations through TikTok and Instagram posts.
• •Insurance vulnerability: Western insurance companies now withdraw coverage from shadow fleet vessels after increased scrutiny, forcing ships to obtain insurance from less reputable or potentially non-existent Russian-linked companies. This creates massive liability risks since legitimate insurers will not cover cleanup costs from accidents involving vessels carrying billions of dollars worth of oil.
• •Zombie race strategy: Sixteen tankers departed Venezuela simultaneously after Maduro's capture, using strength in numbers to overwhelm US enforcement capabilities. While the US Navy stopped three vessels, several successfully reached Africa, and others returned to Venezuela to transport oil under US direction, effectively converting shadow fleet vessels into compliant operators.
• •Enforcement expansion: France boarded a Russian oil tanker following Trump's Davos meeting with European leaders, signaling coordinated Western action. The US deploys similar military buildups near Iran as seen in Venezuela, with Treasury Department sanctions targeting Iranian shadow fleet vessels, potentially disrupting global oil markets and forcing Russia and Iran to consider retaliatory measures.