"Shadow fleet" tankers began to bypass English Channel, choosing longer route around Ireland - The Irish Times

Tankers from the so-called "shadow fleet" of the aggressor country of russia began to more often avoid sailing near the coast of Great Britain, preferring to bypass from the side of Ireland. This was reported by the Irish publication The Irish Times.

In the last days of March and the first days of April, a large number of tankers from the "shadow fleet" were spotted off the west coast of Ireland. Their number was so large that the authorities were forced to involve military aviation to monitor them.

Five tankers from the "shadow fleet" were moving in a column south through the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Ireland. Unnamed sources told the publication that the actions of the tankers were probably an attempt to avoid inspection near the coast of Great Britain.

All tankers from the column are under European Union sanctions. They are estimated to have transported about 4 million barrels of oil from russia. One of the tankers is 23 years old, the other is at least 21 years old.

The publication notes that a week earlier, several other tankers under sanctions had passed through Ireland's EEZ. In addition, the russian fishing vessel Ester, which was previously accused of acting as a covert maritime surveillance vessel, passed near the Irish coast. In 2023, during an inspection off the coast of Norway, military radio equipment was discovered on board.

An unnamed source from the Irish intelligence services described the number of "shadow fleet" tankers passing through Ireland's EEZ at the end of March as unprecedented.

Such tankers are increasingly choosing to bypass Ireland, instead of choosing a faster and safer route through the English Channel. Such actions of the "shadow fleet" took place after the announcement of the UK government that the British navy would begin to detain such vessels.

There are no laws prohibiting ships from passing through the country's EEZ. However, London stated that the "shadow fleet" ships are actually "stateless" (we are talking, as a rule, about forged documents on the ownership of the ships), which means that they can be detained and confiscated in international waters.

The Irish Times recalls that the Irish government recently made it clear that it intends to begin inspecting such ships. Currently, a bill is being developed that grants the Irish navy additional powers.

Tankers from the "shadow fleet" are considered a threat to critical infrastructure. There have already been cases when such ships damaged communication cables in the Baltic Sea. In addition, such tankers are usually very old. Their technical condition threatens to spill oil.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, last Friday, April 3, the Swedish coast guard detained the Flora 1 tanker from the "shadow fleet". The reason for the detention of the vessel was an oil spill in the Baltic Sea.

As a reminder, on March 1 it became known that Belgium, with the support of France, detained a tanker from the russian "shadow fleet".