The Ukraine effect podcast: The rise of the dark fleet

Welcome to the first edition of a special series of Lloyd’s List Podcasts examining how the war in Ukraine has had a lasting impact on different aspects of the shipping industry. In this first edition, we examine the rise of the dark fleet and look at why Russia’s increasingly sophisticated sanctions evasion tactics present a lasting risk for the wider shipping industry. To listen to the full series go to: http://bit.ly/3KbnQpS The shipping industry has had to adapt rapidly since Vladimir Putin ordered his tanks across the Ukrainian frontier a year ago. Entire trade lanes have been re-routed, the most extensive set of sanctions in living memory has been hastily constructed and a super-charged ‘dark fleet’ of opaque operations has sprung up, forcing shipping to navigate an increasingly complex risk and compliance landscape. In this special podcast series, Lloyd’s List’s editorial team are joined by a cast of industry experts as they examine the lasting implications of the war in Ukraine for shipping. Today’s opening edition looks at the rise of the so-called ‘dark fleet’ as one of the major side-effects of the war in Ukraine and concludes that Russia’s sanctions-dodging is only getting more advanced. Lloyd’s list Intelligence has been tracking the development of the dark fleet from the start and according to our latest analysis the size of the dark fleet has more than doubled in the past two years to now cover about 10% of global tankers trading internationally. In addition to safety implications of effectively removing such a large fleet from mainstream scrutiny in terms of class, insurance and reputable flag state oversight, there are longer term issues for shipping in terms of the complexity of the risk and compliance landscape that is rapidly evolving in the way of this rising subterfuge fleet. Featuring in today’s edition: • Michelle Wiese Bockmann, Lloyd’s List’s markets editor and analyst walks us through the growing role that the so-called ‘dark fleet’ is playing in shipping and why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has supercharged deceptive shipping practices. • Daniel Martin, a partner at the law firm HFW, offers his expert analysis of the evolving complexities related to sanctions risk that has sprung up in the wake of the war.