‘Shadow fleet’ ships moving sanctioned oil reflagged to Russia at rising rate

<p>Lloyd’s List analysis suggests 40 suspicious vessels joined Russian registry last year, with 17 reflagged last month</p><p>Forty ships accused of belonging to a large “shadow fleet” moving sanctioned oil for Venezuela and others were reflagged to Russia last year in an apparent attempt to gain Kremlin protection from American seizure.</p><p>Analysis by the shipping intelligence publication <a href="https://www.lloydslist.com/">Lloyd’s List</a> suggests that of those, at least 17 suspicious vessels joined the Russian registry over the past month, compared with 15 ships in the previous five months of 2025.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/08/shadow-fleet-ships-sanctioned-oil-reflagged-russia-lloyds-list-analysis">Continue reading...</a>