A shadow fleet, also referred to as a dark fleet, is a ship or group of such shadow ships, "...that uses concealing tactics to smuggle sanctioned goods". Shadow fleets are a direct response to international or unilateral economic sanctions. The term therefore more broadly refers to practices of sanction-busting in the maritime domain through the use of unregistered or fraudulent vessels. Goods commonly exported and imported include raw materials such as oil and iron, luxury goods, and weapons and defense technologies. Shadow fleets use a wide range of layered techniques, aimed at obscuring their activities or keeping plausible deniability. Though those techniques are well documented and are similar across actors, they create enforcement problems for authorities due to lack of coordination, cooperation, or resources and political will. Moreover, shadow fleets operate in legal grey zones, often on the high seas beyond the jurisdiction of coastal states, making arrests and seizures difficult. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian shadow fleet smuggling Russian oil for export has drawn renewed attention. This has led to growing concerns about the geopolitical impacts of such fleets, their significance with regards to sanctions' enforcement and efficacy, and the safety and security risks they create. Indeed, as 'dark' vessels use deceptive practices and often constitute ageing vessels, they "present a serious threat to maritime security, safety and the marine environment". The International Maritime Organization signaled its desire to create new enforcement mechanisms against grey ships, signing a resolution in October 2023 that defined for the first time the term 'dark' ship. It noted that:
a fleet of between 300 and 600 tankers primarily comprised of older ships, including some not inspected recently, having substandard maintenance, unclear ownership and a severe lack of insurance, was currently operated as a 'dark fleet' or 'shadow fleet' to circumvent sanctions and high insurance costs.
Practices and techniques Various techniques are employed by shadow fleets in order to mask the identity of the vessels, their destination and origin points, or to fabricate paperwork for trading purposes. Such techniques are often used in a layered and complex manner making enforcement more difficult and generating additional compliance costs and risk for private companies across the maritime supply chain. Those practices may exploit legal flaws in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) registration and transmission requirements, insurance loopholes, and the lack of cooperation between geopolitical adversaries.
Automatic Identification System manipulation Automatic identification system or AIS is an IMO-mandated transponder aboard all registered vessels which transmits the identity and location of ships. This is publicly accessible data. The technology allows data-tracking for ships on the high seas, and underpins the system as both a "regulatory weapon and compliance shield". Yet its limitations have been exploited thoroughly by sanction busting actors. Because of the voluntary nature of the system, AIS-data transmission can be turned off, allowing for ships to 'disappear' when engaging in illegal or illicit activities. Sanction enforcement can counter such practices by including AIS switch-off clauses in insurance contract. They can also track the AIS switch offs with satellite imagery or artificial intelligence to track suspicious ships. However, the system allows for plausible deniability, as for example the transponder could have been switched off for security reasons, or due to power-outages on board. Spoofing, which is largely used by Iran's ghost fleet, has been defended by industry experts as a means to counter piracy, and can involve the large-scale transmission of data to drown sensitive information. This explains the industry pressure for the transmission system to remain voluntary and not mandatory, which would help enforce sanctions. AIS spoofing also refers more generally to the deliberate manipulation of ship location or identification data to mask a 'shadow' vessel's illegal activity. Failure to broadcast or malfunctioning AIS can also have serious consequences and decreases safety at the seas.
Ship-to-ship transfers
Ship-to-ship cargo transfers refer to the use of intermediary vessels to bring goods to shore. This allows shadow fleets to stay on the high seas, avoid detection and seizure by coastal authorities, and smuggle their cargo in. Bunkering refers to the re-fueling of ships at sea through an intermediary tanker. This allows illegal vessels to remain on the high seas for extended period of time and avoid detection. Both practices are legal but regulated in the territorial waters of coastal states. The use of such strategies on the high seas exists in a legal grey zone and is difficult to detect, though sanctioned entities are often prohibited from benefiting from such transfers. In a report in 2013, the International Maritime organization acknowledged that such practices generated considerable risks to commercial shipping, safety, and environmental security:
ship-to-ship transfers in the high seas were high risk activities that undermined the international regime with respect to maritime safety, environmental protection and liability and compensation needed to be urgently addressed
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