Russia’s Shadow Shipping Fleet: How It Works and Why It Is Hard to Tackle

Shrouded in a confusing array of aliases, these vessels operate openly and use international shipping lanes.

The Finnish Border Guard ship Turva (in the foreground) keeps an eye on the Russian tanker Eagle S, in the Baltic Sea south of Porkkalanniemi, Finland, on Dec. 26, 2024. Rajavartiosto via AP

News Analysis

Russia has been growing its so-called shadow shipping fleet for several years but concerns have escalated in the past few months after some of them were linked to a series of incidents involving undersea infrastructure.