Russian flags proliferate over shadow fleet of oil tankers

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. With five oil tankers seized—and more U.S. military action promised—the world’s fleet of so-called shadow tankers that ferry sanctioned crude are quickly hoisting a new flag: the Russian tricolor.

Their hope is that by operating under the flag of a country with a strong navy they might be able to skirt the U.S. blockade on Venezuelan oil movements and avoid interception by the Coast Guard. It doesn’t appear to be working.

The U.S. military seized a fifth oil tanker Friday and continues to monitor other vessels trying to evade the Trump administration’s quarantine on sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela, according to American officials. Moscow sent ships to escort another tanker, known as Bella 1, which was sailing under a sloppily painted Russian flag on its hull, as the U.S.

military tracked it across the Atlantic Ocean. Bella 1’s apparent attempt to claim protection from Moscow appeared to fail. The tanker, which turned out to be empty of oil, was seized Wednesday in a raid by special-operations forces.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said two Russian crew members would be released in an agreement with the U.S. government. American officials said the crews of all seized vessels would eventually be repatriated.

In the past two weeks alone, as the Trump administration’s attempt to blockade Venezuela’s crude exports intensified, more than 15 tankers involved in shipping sanctioned oil swapped flags to fly Russia’s, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Russia-flagged ships still represent a small portion of the shadow fleet. “Adopting the Russian flag is a way for the dark fleet to be supposedly protected from raids," said Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd’s List, a