Between January 2025 and June 2026, Russia moved around 100 “shadow fleet” tankers to its flag registry amid mounting sanctions pressure. By the time most of the vessels switched to the Russian flag, they were already subject to sanctions, according to a new report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
The center’s analysts counted 107 tankers that have switched to the Russian flag since the start of 2025, boosting Russia’s overall registry by 36%. The peak came in December 2025, coinciding with a U.S. campaign against Venezuelan crude and threats to detain oil tankers.
At the time they changed flags, 93 tankers — 87% of the total — were already under sanctions. More than half of them had sailed under false flags between the time they were added to sanctions lists and the time they switched to Russian jurisdiction.
CREA confirmed sanctions were a key factor behind the rise in tankers switching to the Russian flag. Throughout the first half of 2025, “shadow fleet” vessels were actively being registered in the Comoros and Gambia, but the company managing their registrations was placed under European sanctions that summer. As a result, both countries reduced the number of tankers they registered, and some of those vessels switched to the Russian flag instead. Panama also cut the number of “shadow fleet” vessels in its registries by nearly two-thirds starting from May 2025.
CREA’s analysts said the case of the Arctic Metagaz gas carrier (IMO: 9243148) may also have made third countries less willing to register vessels that, in practice, operate on behalf of Russia. The gas carrier was struck by a drone this spring and was left drifting in the Mediterranean. The report’s authors said the incident highlighted Russia’s inability to meet its obligations to countries that allow “shadow fleet” vessels to sail under their flags, prompting those states to increasingly refuse registrations.
