# Shadow Fleet Tracker: Russia's Sanctioned Tankers and Seizures

Updated 13:28 UTC, 29 Oct 2026. Canonical: https://monitorworld.app/live/shadow-fleet-tracker

The UK lists 645 ships under its Russia sanctions, 20 of them added in the past 30 days, and the US SDN list names 862 tankers, 233 of them under Russia programmes. The EU list reached 673 vessels in July 2026. Since January 2025 we have collected 10 dated reports of boardings, detentions or seizures of such tankers and 8 of attacks on them, each with its source below.

## Latest ships added to the UK sanctions list

From the UK Sanctions List (generated 29 Oct 2026). Flag and type as the UK lists them.

- [UK] ALEXANDER NEVSKIY · IMO 9356610 (flag: Russia, Chemical/Products Tanker, built 2008, UK since 8 Oct 2026)
- [US + UK] ANAYA · IMO 9326885 (flag: Panama, Chemical/Products Tanker, built 2008, UK since 8 Oct 2026 · US SDN (Iran))
- [UK] ANDREY PERVOZVANNIY · IMO 9255268 (flag: Russia, Chemical/Products Tanker, built 2003, UK since 8 Oct 2026)
- [US + UK] BELLARIS · IMO 9332614 (flag: Panama, Chemical/Products Tanker, built 2008, UK since 8 Oct 2026 · US SDN (Iran))
- [UK] DAKAR · IMO 9251743 (flag not given, Chemical/Products Tanker, UK since 8 Oct 2026)
- [US + UK] DAPHNE V · IMO 9321677 (flag: Panama, Oil Tanker, built 2006, UK since 8 Oct 2026 · US SDN (Iran))
- [UK] FLINT WIND · IMO 9314179 (flag not given, Oil Tanker, UK since 8 Oct 2026)
- [UK] MIDVOLGA-3 · IMO 9735141 (flag: Russia, Chemical/Products Tanker, UK since 8 Oct 2026)

## Key numbers

- Ships under UK Russia sanctions: **645** (latest added 8 Oct 2026)
- Tankers on the US SDN list: **862** (Russia 233 · Iran 597 · Venezuela 26)
- Vessels on the EU list: **673** (21st package, 23 Jul 2026)
- Boardings, seizures, attacks: **18** (since Jan 2025, sourced)

## Shadow fleet boardings, seizures and attacks: dated list

- [BOARDED] [DF Peak, south of Reunion: The French navy boarded the ship about 450 nautical miles south of Reunion. President Macron cited a false flag.](https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/12/french-navy-intercepts-and-boards-shadow-fleet-ship-macron-says) (12 Oct 2026, Euronews)
- [INSPECTION] [Toa Payoh and Sun, Mediterranean: The EU naval operation Irini boarded the two tankers on 2 and 30 August 2026; both were allowed to continue.](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/31/suspected-russian-shadow-fleet-oil-tanker-boarded-by-eu-forces-in-the-mediterranean) (30 Aug 2026, Euronews)
- [ATTACK] [Louise 1 and Banda: Ukraine's SBU said it hit both tankers.](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/07/16/8044335/) (16 Jul 2026, Ukrainska Pravda)
- [ATTACK] [Eight tankers, Sea of Azov: Ukraine said it struck eight shadow-fleet tankers near Crimea.](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/07/07/ukraine-says-it-struck-8-shadow-fleet-tankers-near-crimea-a93185) (7 Jul 2026, The Moscow Times)
- [SEIZED] [Tagor and Deliver, Mediterranean: France seized the tankers Tagor (around 31 May) and Deliver (in June, off Sicily), its fifth such seizure.](https://news.usni.org/2026/06/26/french-seizes-5th-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker) (Jun 2026, USNI News)
- [BOARDED] [Smyrtos, English Channel: Royal Marines and National Crime Agency officers boarded the tanker in a six-hour operation, the UK's first such boarding.](https://gcaptain.com/uk-boards-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker-in-first-direct-interdiction-operation/) (14 Jun 2026, gCaptain)
- [DETAINED] [Caffa, Sea Owl I, Flora 1 and Jin Hui, Swedish waters: Sweden's coast guard detained Caffa (6 March), Sea Owl I (12 March), Flora 1 (3 April) and Jin Hui (3 May 2026). Jin Hui sailed under a Syrian flag that Sweden suspects is false; its captain was arrested.](https://wtop.com/europe/2026/05/sweden-detains-sanctioned-oil-tanker-believed-to-be-linked-to-russias-shadow-fleet/) (3 May 2026, AP via WTOP)
- [ATTACK] [Altura, near the Bosporus: The tanker was hit near the entrance to the Bosporus.](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/03/26/8027266) (26 Mar 2026, Ukrainska Pravda)
- [INTERCEPTED] [Grinch, western Mediterranean: The French navy intercepted the tanker, sailing from Russia, with support from UK intelligence.](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/01/22/frances-navy-intercepts-an-oil-tanker-in-the-mediterranean-sailing-from-russia/) (22 Jan 2026, AP via News4Jax)
- [ATTACK] [Elbus, Black Sea off Turkey: The tanker was hit off Turkey's coast; Naval News reported another Ukrainian strike.](https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/01/ukraine-hits-another-shadow-fleet-tanker-off-turkish-coast/) (Jan 2026, Naval News)
- [SEIZED] [Marinera (ex-Bella 1), North Atlantic: US forces seized the tanker between Iceland and the UK and called it stateless. Russia said it had given the ship a Russian flag on 25 December 2025.](https://www.rferl.org/amp/us-forces-russian-tanker-marinera-atlantic-ocean-oil/33642224.html) (7 Jan 2026, RFE/RL)
- [BOARDED] [Centuries, east of Barbados: US forces boarded the Panama-flagged tanker. AFP found that the ship was not on the Treasury sanctions list.](https://thedefensepost.com/2025/12/21/us-seizes-tanker-venezuela/amp/) (20 Dec 2025, The Defense Post (AFP))
- [ATTACK] [Qendil, Mediterranean: Ukraine's SBU said aerial drones hit the tanker in the Mediterranean. Reuters identified the ship in the footage but could not verify the time or place.](https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/ukraine-strikes-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker-mediterranean-rcna250101) (19 Dec 2025, NBC News)
- [SEIZED] [Skipper, off Venezuela: The US Coast Guard seized the tanker, which carried about 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude. The US said its Guyana flag was false.](https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/regulations/us-seizes-vlcc-skipper-off-venezuela) (10 Dec 2025, Seatrade Maritime)
- [ATTACK] [Dashan, Black Sea: Ukraine said it hit a third tanker in the Black Sea.](https://gcaptain.com/ukraine-hits-third-russia-shadow-fleet-tanker-in-black-sea) (10 Dec 2025, gCaptain)
- [ATTACK] [Kairos and Virat, Black Sea off Turkey: Both tankers were hit off Turkey's coast. Sources in Ukraine's security service (SBU) said sea drones were used.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-targets-russia-shadow-fleet) (28 Nov 2025, CBS News)
- [DETAINED] [Boracay, France: France detained the tanker in late September 2025 to check its registration. Its captain was tried in absentia in Brest in 2026.](https://maritime-executive.com/article/france-starts-trail-of-shadow-tanker-captain-charged-with-disobeying-orders) (Sep 2025, Maritime Executive)
- [INSPECTION] [Jaguar, Gulf of Finland: Estonia tried to inspect the tanker. It sailed into Russian waters, and a Russian Su-35 jet entered Estonian airspace.](https://gcaptain.com/russian-jet-buzzes-estonian-forces-in-gulf-of-finland-shadow-tanker-showdown) (13 May 2025, gCaptain)
- [DETAINED] [Kiwala, Gulf of Finland: Estonia detained the tanker, which flew a Djibouti flag that Djibouti did not recognise. It was released on 28 April 2025.](https://gcaptain.com/russian-jet-buzzes-estonian-forces-in-gulf-of-finland-shadow-tanker-showdown) (11 Apr 2025, gCaptain)
- [EXPLOSION] [Seajewel, Savona (Italy): Explosions damaged the tanker in the port of Savona, and Italian prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation.](https://www.ansa.it/amp/english/news/2025/02/19/terrorism-probe-opened-over-sea-jewel-explosion_fb05d9ab-7205-4e62-b439-326391d52d81.html) (15 Feb 2025, ANSA)

## Shadow fleet news: latest reports

- [MED] [Shadow fleet sanctions: Can the EU act if the US pulls back?](https://www.dw.com/en/shadow-fleet-sanctions-can-the-eu-act-if-the-us-pulls-back/a-79787035?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-xml-mrss) (DW News, 12:01 UTC, 4h ago)

## Key context

### What the official lists show

The UK Sanctions List names 682 ships, 645 of them under the Russia regime. The US SDN list names 1,551 vessels with an IMO number, 862 of them tankers: 233 under Russia programmes, 597 under Iran-related programmes and 26 under Venezuela programmes. 301 ships appear on both lists. Of the listed tankers with a known build year, 68% are 20 years old or more.

The flags below are the flags the UK believes the ships fly now. Many listed ships change flag and name often, and some use flags of states that do not register them, so the IMO number is the only stable identifier.

Ships under UK Russia sanctions, by current believed flag (top 10).

| Flag | Ships |
| --- | --- |
| Panama | 169 |
| Russia | 121 |
| Gabon | 52 |
| not given | 49 |
| Barbados | 47 |
| Comoros | 38 |
| Sierra Leone | 27 |
| Liberia | 25 |
| Palau | 21 |
| Cook Islands | 19 |

### UK listings by month

Each UK round adds ships on one day. The months with the most new Russia listings since 2025:

| Month | Ships added |
| --- | --- |
| Jul 2025 | 135 |
| May 2025 | 117 |
| Sep 2025 | 71 |
| Feb 2026 | 50 |
| Oct 2025 | 49 |
| Feb 2025 | 40 |
| Jun 2026 | 27 |
| Oct 2026 | 20 |

### EU vessel listings, package by package

The EU bans listed vessels from its ports and from EU services such as insurance and finance. The list grew from 79 ships before February 2025 to 673 after the 21st package of 23 July 2026, which also lets member states confiscate the cargo of detained shadow-fleet ships ([Council of the EU](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/07/23/21st-package-of-sanctions-eu-hits-russian-energy-financial-services-and-crypto-hard/)). We do not republish the EU's ship-by-ship annex here; the totals come from the Council's press releases.

| Round | Date | Vessels added | Total listed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 16th package | 24 Feb 2025 | +74 | 153 |
| 17th package | 20 May 2025 | +189 | 342 |
| 18th package | 18 Jul 2025 | +105 | 444 |
| 19th package | 23 Oct 2025 | +117 | 557 |
| Separate listing | 18 Dec 2025 | +41 | almost 600 |
| 20th package | 23 Apr 2026 | +46, 11 removed | 632 |
| 21st package | 23 Jul 2026 | +41 | 673 |

### How the shadow fleet works

Western sanctions cap the price of Russian oil or ban it, and Western firms insure and finance most of the world's tankers. To move oil outside that system, traders buy older tankers through shell companies, register them in states with light oversight, insure them with little-known firms and pass cargoes between ships at sea. The Kyiv School of Economics estimates that shadow-fleet tankers carried 75% of Russia's seaborne crude in April 2026.

The same methods serve Iran and Venezuela. The US Treasury describes ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian crude off Malaysia ([Treasury, April 2026](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0472)) and said on 8 October 2026 that its newest listing of 17 vessels covers most of Iran's remaining fleet ([Treasury](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0653)).

### Check a ship yourself

Search any ship by name or IMO number on the [oil tanker tracker](https://monitorworld.app/live/oil-tanker-tracker). It checks the US and UK lists in your browser. The official search pages are OFAC's Sanctions List Search and the UK Sanctions List.

## FAQ

### What is the shadow fleet?

The tankers that carry oil from sanctioned countries, mostly Russia but also Iran and Venezuela, outside Western shipping services. The UK government describes them as often over 20 years old, using deceptive shipping practices and sometimes sailing under false flags (gov.uk, 8 October 2026). Typical signs are opaque owners, unknown insurance, ship-to-ship transfers at sea and AIS transponders switched off or spoofed.

### How many ships are in Russia's shadow fleet?

Counts differ by method. The Kyiv School of Economics counted 325 tankers carrying Russian oil in June 2026, 176 of them shadow-fleet ships, and 94% of those were more than 15 years old. Lloyd's List counted 1,423 tankers in the sanctioned-oil trade of Russia, Iran and Venezuela in December 2025, 921 of them sanctioned. On the official lists today: 645 ships under UK Russia sanctions and 233 tankers under US Russia programmes.

### Which countries have sanctioned shadow fleet tankers?

The EU, the UK and the US list them by IMO number, and Ukraine and several other countries keep their own lists. A listed ship faces port bans and a ban on Western services such as insurance, finance and crew. The EU's list reached 673 vessels with its 21st package on 23 July 2026; the UK said on 8 October 2026 that it had sanctioned over 600 shadow-fleet tankers.

### Can I see where the shadow fleet tankers are now?

Not on this page. We do not publish live positions of named ships. The map shows the approximate places of dated public reports: boardings, detentions, seizures and attacks. To look up a ship, use the check on the [oil tanker tracker](https://monitorworld.app/live/oil-tanker-tracker), which also links to a public AIS site.

### Why do navies board shadow fleet tankers?

Most boardings check a ship's flag and papers. Under the law of the sea, a warship may board a ship that has no nationality, and a false flag can leave a ship without one; other checks cover safety, insurance or pollution risk. Sweden, France, Estonia, the UK and the US have all boarded or detained such ships since 2025, as listed above.

### What happened with the Eagle S?

Finnish investigators suspect the tanker Eagle S of damaging the Estlink 2 power cable and several telecom cables in the Gulf of Finland on 25 December 2024. A Helsinki court dismissed the case against three officers in October 2025 for lack of jurisdiction; the Court of Appeal reversed that on 27 August 2026 (Yle). See the [undersea cable map](https://monitorworld.app/live/undersea-cable-map).

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## Sources

- [UK Sanctions List (FCDO)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list): ships specified under UK sanctions, with the date, current believed flag and type. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- [US Treasury OFAC, Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list](https://sanctionslist.ofac.treas.gov/Home/SdnList): vessel entries with IMO number, flag at the time of listing, type and sanctions programme. US government work, public domain.
- [Council of the European Union, press releases](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/07/23/21st-package-of-sanctions-eu-hits-russian-energy-financial-services-and-crypto-hard/): number of vessels under the EU port-access and services ban, as announced with each sanctions package. Restated in our own words.
- [Dated incident reports (news and official statements)](https://monitorworld.app/sources): each incident on the map and in the list links to the report it comes from. Areas are approximate and come from public reports, not from ship tracking.
- [The GDELT Project (DOC 2.0 API)](https://www.gdeltproject.org/): media reports, matched by keyword. Headlines link to the publisher; MonitorWorld does not verify them.
- [MonitorWorld news digest](https://monitorworld.app/sources): headlines from public news feeds (Reuters, AP, BBC, Al Jazeera and others), severity rated by our model. Each headline links to the publisher.

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