Political pressure builds in Europe to tackle stateless shadow tankers
- zarra6
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
15 January 2026 Lloyd's List
BOUYED by the role that the UK played in supporting the US seizure of shadow fleet tanker Marinera (IMO: 9230880) last week, UK defence officials have been talking up the possibility of more imminent action against stateless shadow fleet* vessels.
Defence officials have been briefing journalists that the UK is ready to step up action against the shadow fleet and separately told the BBC on Monday that a legal basis had been identified to allow the UK military to board and detain vessels.
While Lloyd’s List understands that the legal advice to the UK government has not changed, defence officials have been hurriedly reviewing plans to potentially interdict more tankers without valid flag registrations.
According to Lloyd’s List analysis there were 23 vessels either passing through or about to enter the Baltic and English Channel on Monday.
International Maritime Organization data indicates there are currently at least 466 vessels globally known to be using fraudulent or invalid flag registrations.
The ramped-up rhetoric from the UK comes as EU officials are discussing their next package of sanctions which Lloyd’s List understands will include tightened restrictions targeting shadow fleet vessels passing through EU waters in addition to a lowered oil price cap.
While several EU states have been pushing for a more aggressive stance towards interdicting stateless tankers moving through EU waters, to date states have avoided vessel boardings outside of a handful of specific cases where tight legal justification was sought in advance.
Technically the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea allows boarding of stateless vessels. However, political concerns regarding Russian reprisals in the Baltic have allowed a steady of flow of tankers with no official certification to sail unchecked beyond requests to provide known fake certificates.
The 20th package of EU sanctions targeting Russia is scheduled to be unveiled later this month. It is not yet clear whether more robust measures on stateless tankers proposed by Poland will be included.
The UK, however, appears to be taking a more aggressive stance.
“The UK will not stand by as malign activity increases on the high seas... and alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response against shadow vessels — and we will continue to do so,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey told Parliament last week in the wake of the Marinera seizure.
That seizure of a ship that had switched to the Russian flag having previously been fraudulently flying the Guyana flag, has since been lauded by the UK government as a strong example of UK preparedness to board and seize stateless tankers.
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