Lithuania seeks EU ways to slow Russia’s shadow fleet

Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said the European Union would seek ways to slow Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, adding that delaying even a small part of it could cost Moscow hundreds of millions of US dollars, LRT reported.

Katelynas said he and Estonia’s interior minister had discussed the issue and would look for possible measures at a meeting in November. He said calculations showed that slowing 10% of Russia’s shadow fleet could reduce Russian revenues by at least 100 million US dollars.

“In a war economy, lost or delayed revenues and blocked funds have an effect,” Katelynas said on LRT television’s LRT Forum programme on Monday. If voyages took 110 days instead of 100, he said, Russia would automatically incur losses.

According to Katelynas, slowing the fleet would affect Russia militarily, economically and politically. He said countries needed to find creative ways to respond to what he described as hybrid threats.

The European Union adopted its 21st sanctions package during the summer, adding 41 vessels to its measures against Russia’s shadow fleet, bringing the total to 692. The package also expanded the criteria for sanctions to include vessels providing fuel supply and ship-to-ship cargo transfer services, and introduced a requirement to report sales of liquefied natural gas tankers.

The shadow fleet generally consists of old vessels in poor condition that avoid international safety and environmental requirements and are often unregistered. The ships do not disclose accurate location data and conduct risky operations at sea. An EU study said the fleet had become Russia’s main tool for continuing oil exports through the Baltic Sea despite Western sanctions.