[News Terms] From Russian Oil to North Korean Weapons... The Shadow Fleet Linking Illegal Trades

Ownership by Ghost Companies and Forged Crew Identities
North Korea Uses Chinese Samhohoe Shadow Fleet for Smuggling

On the 7th (local time), the Eagle S, an oil tanker belonging to the Russian Shadow Fleet, docked at Kilpilathi Port in Finland. Photo by AFP·Yonhap News

The U.S. government has announced large-scale sanctions against smuggling vessels used to evade sanctions on Russia, commonly known as the 'Shadow Fleet.' The Shadow Fleet is a term referring to smuggling ships operated by countries under international sanctions, such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea, where formal trade is impossible. Currently, hundreds of oil tankers smuggling Russian oil make up a large-scale Shadow Fleet.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) stated in an April 2023 report that "the Russian Shadow Fleet consists of 300 to 600 tankers, mostly aging vessels that have not undergone recent inspections, suffer from poor maintenance, and have unclear ownership. Many are uninsured. It is also called the 'Dark Fleet.'"

According to CNN, on the 13th (local time), the Indian government held an emergency meeting with officials from the energy sector and state-owned oil companies regarding U.S. sanctions on the Russian Shadow Fleet. This was because Russian Shadow Fleet tankers carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, en route from Russia to India via China, were denied entry due to the U.S. sanctions announcement, causing immediate disruptions in oil imports. Since the U.S. government announced sanctions on 183 tankers, about 30% of the Russian Shadow Fleet, on the 10th, concerns over energy supply have spread in India, which heavily depends on Russian oil.

It is known that the number of tankers belonging to the Shadow Fleet transporting Russian crude oil exceeded 700 until last year. The Russian government continues to purchase aging tankers to expand the Shadow Fleet. In 2022 alone, it acquired 125 tankers and carriers from Greece.

This Shadow Fleet is generally operated by ghost companies whose owners or structures are unknown, and the identities of executives and crew members are mostly forged. To evade surveillance by U.S. and Western intelligence agencies, these ships turn off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) and operate covertly, sometimes transferring cargo to other vessels on the high seas to make tracking even more difficult.

Not only Russia but also Iran and North Korea are reportedly smuggling various goods through their Shadow Fleets. In October last year, the U.S. government sanctioned 17 tankers belonging to Iran's Shadow Fleet. It is reported that Iran used the profits earned through the Shadow Fleet to provide military support to Middle Eastern militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which are engaged in conflict with Israel.

North Korea is said to smuggle oil and luxury goods through the Shadow Fleet of the Chinese criminal organization known as the Samhohoe. According to a joint investigation conducted in March 2023 by the British think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the Financial Times (FT), the tanker Unica, part of the Shadow Fleet smuggling oil off North Korea’s western coast since 2019, was linked to 14K, an organization under the Chinese Samhohoe.