WSJ: Twenty-five tankers switch to Russian flag in bid to evade US crackdown

Twenty-five oil tankers involved in shipping sanctioned crude were reflagged to Russia in the final three months of 2025, highlighting a new tactic by the so-called shadow fleet as the United States intensifies its crackdown on Venezuelan oil exports.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, 18 of those vessels changed their flags in December alone, and 16 had already been sanctioned by either the United States or the United Kingdom. The legitimacy of such mid-voyage flag changes under international maritime law remains unclear, the data provider said, Caliber.Az reports via The Wall Street Journal. 

The move comes as Washington steps up enforcement against ships carrying Venezuelan crude. In the past two weeks, more than 15 tankers involved in transporting sanctioned oil swapped their flags to Russia’s, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, although Russia-flagged ships still make up only a small share of the shadow fleet.

“Adopting the Russian flag is a way for the dark fleet to be supposedly protected from raids,” said Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd’s List, a shipping report. “It can certainly become a flashpoint between Washington and Moscow.”

Operators of these vessels appear to be betting that sailing under the flag of a country with a strong navy could deter US action. Their hope is that by operating under the Russian tricolor they might skirt the US blockade on Venezuelan oil movements and avoid interception by the Coast Guard. That strategy, however, does not appear to be working.

The US military seized a fifth oil tanker on January 9 and continues to monitor other vessels attempting to evade the Trump administration’s quarantine on sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela, according to American officials.

One such ship, the tanker known as Bella 1, was sailing under what was described as a sloppily painted Russian flag on its hull as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Moscow sent ships to escort it while the US military tracked its movement.

The attempt to claim Russian protection failed. The tanker, which turned out to be empty of oil, was seized on January 7 in a raid by special-operations forces. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said two Russian crew members would be released in an agreement with the US government, while American officials said the crews of all seized vessels would eventually be repatriated.

The flag switches mark a new stage in the evolution of the fleet that ships oil from Venezuela, Iran and Russia. Operators have long used tactics such as changing vessel names and falsifying coordinates to disguise the origin of their cargo and avoid detection.

Until recently, many sailed under obscure flags such as Gabon’s, or under established flags of convenience such as Liberia’s. Some used what were described as bogus flags from countries such as East Timor and Malawi.

Shipping executives and lawyers said those controlling the newly Russian-flagged tankers had hoped the United States would hesitate to act against ships Moscow might count as its own.

“Russian interests may be embedded in PdVSA, potentially setting Trump up for confrontation with [Russian President Vladimir Putin] over oil assets in Venezuela,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann of the maritime-data company Windward.

By Sabina Mammadli