The dark fleet of tankers shipping illicit oil around the world is rushing to seek the perceived protection of the Russian flag after the US started seizing vessels involved in the Venezuelan trade.
At least 26 ships have switched registration to Russia since the beginning of last month, with the bulk of those happening after the US snatched the Skipper supertanker off the coast of Venezuela on Dec. 10, according to Starboard Maritime Intelligence data. That’s a jump from six in November and just 14 over the previous five months.
About 13% of the almost 1,500 tankers that carry Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil are already registered to Moscow, with the rest typically operating under the flags of smaller countries, such as Panama, Guinea and Comoros. Using false flags is also a common dark-fleet tactic, enabling ships to avoid having to comply with regulations while appearing legitimate.
The recent move toward Russian registration is a calculation by vessel owners that Moscow will provide political cover when other nations won’t, according to Charlie Brown, a senior adviser at United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group that tracks the dark fleet.
“This may offer a new potential solution for the illicit dark-fleet networks, but it also raises the stakes,” he said. “Because it underscores that sanctions evasion is no longer just a maritime compliance problem, but a strategic challenge involving state protection and geopolitical risks.”
Those risks were on display in the pursuit of the Bella 1, sanctioned by the US in 2024. The vessel initially evaded capture near Venezuela in mid-December, and then headed north, switching from fake Guyanese registration to a Russian flag and changing its name to Marinera, with the crew even painting Moscow’s tricolor on its hull.
The chase raised fears of a direct conflict between Washington and Moscow. A Russian naval ship was on its way to escort the Marinera but never made it close enough before US forces boarded the supertanker south of Iceland last week, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named due to its sensitivity.
The US has now seized five tankers involved in the Venezuelan oil trade and, given President Donald Trump’s latest threat to slap tariffs on countries buying Iranian goods, oil traders and ship owners are watching to see if the White House will go after vessels carrying crude from the Islamic Republic.
The histories and geographical spread of the 26 tankers that have recently switched flags illustrates the growing risks. They’re currently located across the world, from the Baltic Sea, to the Suez Canal and the Yellow Sea, although it’s possible some are spoofing their locations.
They’re all sanctioned by at least one Western government. Among their current or former owners or managers, a few names keep popping up: Eight of the vessels are linked to Glory Shipping HK Ltd., a Hong Kong-based entity. Two Russia-registered firms — New Fleet Ltd. and North Fleet Ltd. — are each listed as new owners for three of the ships, and have addresses that appear to be in the same building as a unit of Russian state-owned shipping line Sovcomflot PJSC in St. Petersburg.
Neither Glory Shipping nor the two Russian companies responded to emailed requests for comment.
A country’s flag registry makes it the governing body of a vessel to enforce compliance with maritime laws, and safety and environmental standards, although some nations outsource this to commercial entities. The flag also acts like a passport that gives the ship access to friendly ports around the world.
The 26 flag-hoppers were observed based on the day they started transmitting with a new nine-digit number for telecommunications. This number, called the maritime mobile service identity, or MMSI, is issued by flag registries and can be immediately observed once a ship changes flag and starts transmitting. For Russia, the MMSI begins with 273.
“The story is really a persistent, global reflagging of dark-fleet tankers,” said Mark Douglas, a maritime domain analyst at Starboard Maritime Intelligence. “It’s unlikely to stop at this number.”
