Since Western nations imposed heavy sanctions on Russia in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a so-called “dark fleet” has been unleashed to evade sanctions on oil and other exports.

Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, writes that the use of such vessels, which “lack proper insurance, have opaque ownership, and ‘flag hop’ between different permissive ship registries has grown explosively, to an estimated 1,400 ships.”

Read Braw’s analysis, “Russia’s growing dark fleet: Risks for the global maritime order”: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/russias-growing-dark-fleet-risks-for-the-global-maritime-order/#:~:text=Since%20Russia's%20invasion%20of%20Ukraine,to%20an%20estimated%201%2C400%20ships.