The European Parliament believes that the European Union should take a tougher and more active approach to the ongoing export of Russian oil and gas, despite the international boycott against it. Russia is still able to export with the help of a 'shadow fleet' of rented tankers, and thus continue to fill the war chest against Ukraine.
In a recently adopted resolution, the European Parliament stressed that Russia continues to circumvent the international trade embargo through complex and often opaque methods. This shadow fleet consists of tankers chartered from foreign shipowners. Some of these vessels are registered in countries with weak supervision and enforcement structures.
As for the routes used to transport Russian oil, it appears that tankers often go through the Baltic and Black Seas, then sail through the Mediterranean and even the English Channel. These are strategic waterways through which oil is shipped to Asian countries such as China and India.
These countries have not imposed sanctions on Russian oil and are therefore an important market for Moscow. It also appears that some tankers make stopovers in Middle Eastern ports, where the oil is pumped over to make further investigations into the origin more difficult.
The European Commission has already imposed a price cap on Russian oil, aimed at reducing Kremlin revenues, and is working with allies to step up inspections of suspicious vessels.
Nevertheless, it is clear that additional actions are needed to effectively combat the shadow fleet. MEPs believe that the EU should now also target shipowners and insurance companies.