The Morning Risk Report: Rise of 'Dark Fleet' Poses Growing Risk to Commercial Shipping By Mengqi Sun| Dow Jones Risk Journal
Good morning. The rising number of tankers and other vessels under sanctions on the world's oceans poses a growing risk to commercial shipping , maritime executives and insurers warn, Risk Journal reports.
More sanctioned ships: The U.S., European Union and U.K. are increasingly wielding sanctions to combat the so-called dark, or shadow, fleet, which ferries oil and other illicit goods to and from countries such as Venezuela, Iran and Russia. In just three years, 1,125 ships have been placed under sanction, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.
Trouble ahead? Shipping executives and industry specialists say it is only a matter of time before one of the aging, poorly maintained dark fleet vessels causes a major maritime disaster. Cleanup operations are likely to be complex because sanctions complicate or prevent claim payments. "We've created a monster with the parallel fleet," said Mike Salthouse, head of external affairs at U.K.-based NorthStandard, one of the world's largest dedicated marine insurers.
Recent example: That risk was illustrated last week when a sanctioned Russian tanker was detected drifting off the coast of Algeria, with its navigation status changed to "not under command" before it stopped sharing its location, according to news reports. The tanker, called Progress, on Monday appeared to have resumed its course under power, according to vesseltracker.com. Compliance
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Follow us on X at @WSJRisk . Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at [max.fillion@dowjones.com], Mengqi Sun at [mengqi.sun@wsj.com] and Richard Vanderford at [richard.vanderford@wsj.com].
You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editor David Smagalla at [david.smagalla@wsj.com].
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 29, 2026 07:08 ET (12:08 GMT)
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