By John Georgiadis, University of Athens
All opinions are those of their respective author, and are not indicative of the stance of EUPS.
A new phenomenon exists amid the seas harassing the commercial navy: the “shadow fleet”. Such a fleet is reportedly under the instructions of the Russian Federation, which has been sanctioned for this action. Relied on this, the European Union urges the Greek government to enhance its policing in reference to the incidents.
First of all, there’s a need to account for the “shadow fleet”. Shadow (or Dark, or Grey) Fleet is associated with a ship used to be fulfilled and then transport illicit goods. In other words, as Wikipedia defines, it smuggles sanctioned goods. This may act as a vehicle to respond to any sanctions imposed against a country. The techniques take place meticulously: after using the IMO’s Automatic Identification System (AIS), the shadow fleet is bunkering the goods by ship-to-ship transfer. All the other parts of the way have to do with the negotiations and the payment. Whereas there are risks and serious consequences, there are countries playing the role of the “offenders” via implementing this method: North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and the Russian Federation.
Since the outbreak of the war between Ukraine and Russia, dark fleets are claimed to have been noticed under the guidance of Russia. Forsooth, the February 2022 sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia had a great effect on its financial sector, leading to an increase in investments in defence from 3.9 to 6% of GDP in 2024. Sanctions on oil and related electricity products had a key role in the outcome of the march, while they became the knock-on effects for the “maritime balance”. By publishing fake IMO numbers and using other nations’ flags, the Russian grey fleets became remarkable to the history of maritime. Decades of the shadow fleet’s spot has been noticed in 2024 and 2025, while the Wests have already condemned these actions.
So, taking into account all the hereinabove information above, the EU calls on Greece to cope with the Russian dark fleet. Kaya Kallas, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has met the PM of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, to discuss the topic. “We can all do more to close down the networks of the shadow fleet as well” she promulgated, highlighting that “more Russia’s revenues come from oil, and this comes from their shadow fleet” and the fact that “we [the EU] need to do more to combat Russia’s circumvention of sanctions, that we also discussed today.”. “The sanctions are really working. […] Most of Russia’s income really comes from the shadow fleet of dirty tankers, and these pose a real threat to our seas as well, when it comes to environmental worries. [..] There are now over 550 ships covered by sanctions, but this has not killed the business model yet. I know that this is also something that we need to discuss further, how we can really increase the cost for the Russians to sail their shadow fleet and not really affect our ships here.”.
Greece still holds the “title” for the most mighty shipping in the world. The UGS (Union of Greek Shipping; Ένωση Ελλήνων Εφοπλιστών in Greek) declares that in 2024 the shipping procedure grew by 2.1% worldwide, comparing with 2023. Tankers took the 2nd spot with 23.9% of transmission. In addition, the Greek fleet covers 20% of the global capacity in deadweight tonnes (dwt and more than half (61%) of the EU’s. Linked to the topic, the Maritime AI™ company Windward analysis indicates that since the EU’s willingness to marginalise the price cap by 15%, Greek-owned ships seem to diminish their collection from the lifted Russian crude (petroleum).
The EU has already criticised all Russian attempts on grey fleets. In the 19th Package of Sanctions (guaranteed on October 23rd 2025), the EU cracks down on the transmission of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the communications among the two most successful Russian oil firms, Rosneft and Gazprom Neft. Moreover, it turns all eyes on Sovcomflot, a Russian shipping company found to carry goods under a false flag. Some Russian banks are charged with cooperating with the dark fleet, while the Russian payment systems are banned. Furthermore, Russian diplomats are requested to inform about the time of their departure to the Schengen area, and Russian people (and the government) have themselves removed from the adoption and the usage of AI tools. These decisions are accompanied by the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Council’s Decision [2025/2032] of the same day. On the same “track”, USA and the UK moved, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was on the verge of imposing sanctions at its annual meeting.
On the whole, the incidents show that decisions are made to cope with shadow fleets drastically. Even if Kaya Kallas is willing to contribute to the Greek precautions, it’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis who has “the last speech”. Thus, everyone’s expecting the Greek response to the EU’s calling…
Sources:
- BBC (October 16th 2025). UK targets Russian oil market in fresh sanctions [by Pritti Mistry and Faisal Islam]. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cew418r5rxdo
- Shipping Telegraph (November 10th 2025). EU calls on Greece to take action against Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’. Available at: https://shippingtelegraph.com/hellenic-shipping-news/eu-calls-on-greece-to-take-action-against-russias-shadow-fleet/
- UGS(2025): Shipping in Europe (European Union). Available at: https://ugs.gr/gr/greek-shipping-and-economy/greek-shipping-and-economy-2025/shipping-in-the-eu/
- UGS(2025): Shipping in the public scene. Available at: https://ugs.gr/gr/greek-shipping-and-economy/greek-shipping-and-economy-2025/shipping-in-the-global-scene/
