Exposing Putin's hidden Russian oil fleet (2024)

A Russian shadow fleet of hundreds of oil tankers is sailing through the North Sea with Russian oil. Thousands of international sanctions have targeted Russia's economy, but Russia still manages to transport oil in ships and sell it across the world: A hidden Russian oil trade to fund the war in Ukraine. A smuggling network of oil tankers, and it is almost unknown to know whose these risky, rusty ships are. But they have unclear insurance and are loaded with many millions of tons of sanctioned merchandise from Russia. Oil: the export product on which Putin's war economy revolves, and which to this day is unhindered through Dutch waters. Zembla maps the Russian shadow fleet. Following the invasion of Ukraine, all Western governments announced large scale sanction packages against Russia. Russia is a very important exporter of oil. Together with the US and Saudi Arabia they are the most important oil producers in the world. Importing Russian petroleum into the EU is largely prohibited. Still Russia found a way with this shadow fleet to move large quantities of crude oil through the EU. The ultimate aim of the sanctions is to hit Russia financially. Oil and to a lesser extent gas and coal are key sources of revenue for Russia. and therefore also for Putin and his war machine. But despite the sanctions, Putin remains able to finance the war. When the transport of crude oil is restricted at the end of 2022, Russia is already working on a backup plan: the shadow fleet. A group of ships that transports oil and oil products illegally. from countries subject to sanctions. Zembla investigates this hidden fleet and dives into the ports and monitors thousands of dubious ship movements for half a year. We see ships 244 meters long, carrying 800,000 barrels of Russian crude oil. Any Russian oil transporting vessel leaving the Baltic ports Will have to go through the Dutch economic zone. But how are these oil tankers that carry Russian oil able to move without through the EU economic zone without any problems, despite the sanctions? The dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, along with the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, inform us that oil tankers are checked only in Dutch ports and at anchorages. Ships that sail across the North Sea are not checked by the inspectorate because, according to the ministry, a right of free transit appliesy there. That makes it possible for the Russian shadow fleet to operate: Hundreds of oil tankers are sailing through the North Sea with Russian oil. Zembla: ‘The shadow fleet’ is a data investigation into the Russian oil and money track of this large-scale sanction bypass. With the help of analysts, oil and sanctions experts, Zembla quantifies the amount of processed Russian oil, maps the extent to which companies based in the Netherlands continue to indirectly fund Russia’s war in Ukraine. 'The Shadow Fleet' (2024) Directed by: Jan van Lieshout Research: Rob Meekes Editor-in-chief: Roelof Bosma Subscribe to our channel: @Zemblainvestigativedocumentary #russianoil #sanctionsonrussia #russianeconomy