Lloyd’s List analysis suggests 40 suspicious vessels joined Russian registry last year, with 17 reflagged last monthTwo oil tankers under US sanctions sailing through Channel towards RussiaForty ships accused of belonging to a large “shadow fleet” moving sanctioned oil for Venezuela and others were reflagged to Russia last year in an apparent attempt to gain Kremlin protection from American seizure.Analysis by the shipping intelligence publication Lloyd’s List suggests that of those, at least 17 suspicious vessels joined the Russian registry over the past month, compared with 15 ships in the previous five months of 2025. Continue reading... ...read more read less