EU To Hit Russia's Shadow Fleet Companies With Sanctions

• 7.10.2025, 16:39

Firms that issued false flags for Russian tankers will fall under the sanctions.

The European Union plans to sanction three firms that issued false flag documents for a certain country to a number of tankers in Russia's "shadow fleet," Bloomberg reported.

Reporters have seen the document, according to which, as part of the EU's 19th sanctions package, they propose to penalize three firms that issued false flag documents to at least eight "shadow fleet" tankers already under sanctions.

The companies attributed the flags of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten to these vessels. These small island countries in the Caribbean are not on the so-called Paris register of official flags for ships, meaning they do not provide such a service.

The Netherlands had previously notified the International Maritime Organization that false flags were being issued on behalf of St. Maarten - which is an autonomy within the Netherlands.

The new EU sanctions package is expected to include 120 more "shadow fleet" vessels, increasing the total number on the list to more than 560.