Denmark cracks down on oil tankers in effort to curb Russian “shadow fleet”

Denmark is stepping up regulation of oil tankers transiting its waters as European nations target the so-called “shadow fleet” that has enabled Russia to evade sanctions, the government said on October 5.

Authorities will focus particularly on older vessels, often used by the shadow fleet, which pose environmental hazards due to their poor condition, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

“We must put a stop to Putin’s war machine,” Business Minister Morten Bodskov said in a statement. “We’re using everything at our disposal.”

The announcement follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent calls to detain oil tankers, after prosecutors in northwest France opened an investigation into a vessel for failing to provide proof of nationality and flag and refusing to comply with navy requests.

The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have sanctioned hundreds of tankers accused of facilitating Russian oil exports, which finance Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Despite these measures, Russian oil has largely continued to flow, aided by the shadow fleet.

By Aghakazim Guliyev