shadow fleet

The shadow fleet, also known as the dark fleet,  came up in connection with an oil tanker (a shadow ship) that was drifting in the Baltic Sea, causing some concern as to what might happen to its cargo.  It turns out that one of the end results of the sanctions placed on Russia is the creation of a fleet of ships which are very old, which have obscure ownership,  and which are registered in countries where no one is likely to examine them very closely.  They have the task of transporting Russian oil and evading the $60 per barrel price cap imposed by Ukraine’s allies in an effort to keep oil flowing (and prevent a global economic upheaval) but at the same time limit the profits going to Russia.  This cap is regulated through shipping insurance.  But the shadow fleet gets its insurance in Russia or various non-Western countries.  It is possible to apply the sanctions to the ships individually but that takes time.