Russian Armed Forces Ship Escorted "shadow Tankers" In The English Channel
- 23.06.2025, 8:10
The Russian Navy openly protects the shadow fleet with military force.
The first case of Russian warships escorting sub-sanctioned tankers in European waters was reported to the All Exclusive channel by Mark Douglas, a Maritime Domain Awareness analyst at New Zealand-based Starboard Maritime Intelligence Ltd. Thus, for the first time, there is confirmation that the Russian Navy is openly protecting the shadow fleet with military force, writes The Insider.
He said Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) data shows coordinated movements of three vessels since June 16. Two shadow tankers and a Russian warship synchronously entered the English Channel, heading toward Russian ports to load oil. The operation involved the corvette Boyky of the Steregushchiy type, the tanker SELVA (also known as NOSTOS/NAXOS), which is under UK sanctions, and the tanker SIERRA ("Suvorovsky Prospekt"), which is under UK and EU sanctions.
The tanker SELVA was transmitting AIS signals as a Panamanian vessel, but after this story was published, it emerged that the tanker appears to have changed its flag and is now flying the flag of Palau. This is according to S&P.
The Finnish Defense Minister warned about such escorts, calling them "unprecedented." As Douglas writes, it is now becoming clear that following the inspections by Estonia and increased scrutiny by EU countries, Russia has indeed moved to openly protect the shadow fleet with military forces.
The vessels were first identified by OSINT experts on the Bluesky social network, particularly Christian Panton. Starboard Maritime Intelligence continues to track the tankers and record changes in their behavior. According to the analyst, this event is a test of the international community's readiness for escalation and determination in enforcing sanctions.
A few days ago it became known that the Russian "shadow fleet" tanker Marathon (Udaya) left the port in Primorsk and is going in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Germany. The vessel is heading towards the Great Belt Strait, which is part of the Danish EEZ. The Danish Maritime Administration stated that it had contacted the crew of the tanker, but "was misled by the crew of the vessel."
On May 14, an incident involving the civilian vessel JAGUAR, flying the flag of Gabon, and the Estonian Navy occurred in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. It was reported that the Estonian military twice attempted to land a helicopter landing on board the vessel. However, the crew of the JAGUAR, maneuvering and changing course, prevented the landing of the inspection team and continued on the intended route to the port of Primorsk, Leningrad Region. According to Z-channels, a Russian Su-35 came to the aid of the vessel and escorted it to Russian waters.