Helping the US seize an oil tanker in the North Atlantic will help Britain drive Russia’s shadow fleet off the seas.
The comment was made by UK Defence Secretary John Healey when he recently address the House of Commons in London.
His speech follows US seizure of the Marinera (formerly BELLA 1) oil tanker in the North Atlantic after it was tracked by UK forces.
US forces initially tried to board the tanker in the Caribbean last month but it fled on December 20, pursued by a US Coast Guard vessel.
Healey approved the use of UK bases, ships and aircraft to track the tanker after it was chased by a US Coast Guard vessel across the Atlantic days before Christmas.
“This was a US operation. No UK personnel took part in the boarding,” he says.
OIL SANCTIONS
Healey says that in 2024, the Marinera was sanctioned by the US Government and a warrant for its seizure issued for illegally transporting Iranian oil.
It was reflagged five times in five years and “falsely” flew the Guyana flag when it was finally caught by US forces.
In four years, the vessel is believed to have carried 7.3 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, the defence secretary says.
“The UK also supported this military operation to counter an expanding global security threat,” he says.
“The vessel is part of an increasing web of shadowing shipping that fuels and funds instability across the world, undermines global trade and threatens our national security.”
He says Russia is believed to have sold up to $100 billion in sanctioned oil from a ‘shadow’ fleet of tankers to fund its war in the Ukraine.
“To date, we have imposed sanctions on 544 shadow vessels,” he says.
“The UK will not stand by as malign activity increases on the high seas,” he says.
“Alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response against shadow vessels and we will continue do to.”
SHADOW FLEET
He believes 200 shadow ships have been forced off the seas, almost half of the fleet, while Russia’s oil revenues fell 27% compared to October 2024’s figure.
“More widely across Europe, we are seeing a pattern of flagrant maritime activity co-ordinated by Russia,” he says.
He welcomed Finland’s very recent seizure of a Russian shadow vessel suspected of damaging a communications cable under the Gulf of Finland.
“We’ve exposed the Russian spy ship Yantar operating in our waters, surveying our undersea cables,” he says.
“The shadow fleet is vital to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine,” he says.
OTHER SHADOW FLEET NEWS: Australia, NZ join in sanctions on shadow fleet
