How Putin's Shadow Fleet Is Using Fake Identities To Evade UK Seizures

Russia's "shadow fleet" is using an old maritime tracking system to hide sanctioned oil tankers from authorities and avoid possible seizures by Britain and other European countries.

The tankers are manipulating their Automatic Identification System (AIS), a technology designed to help authorities and ships track vessels at sea, according to The iPaper. The system broadcasts information such as a ship's identity, location, course, port of origin and destination.

One of the methods now being used is known as an AIS "handshake". In this, a sanctioned tanker temporarily takes the identity of another, smaller vessel, sometimes a fishing boat. The two vessels meet at sea, exchange their AIS details and then move away.

Authorities who are monitoring shipping traffic consider the sanctioned tanker an ordinary fishing vessel, while the smaller ship appears to be the tanker. The ships can later meet again and exchange their identities back.

Joshua Tallis, a programme director at the Center for Naval Analyses, told the outlet that AIS was designed decades ago as a safety system and was not built to deal with the kind of sanctions evasion now being seen. He described the situation as a "cat and mouse game" between shadow fleet tankers and authorities trying to track them.

Gonzalo Saiz Erausquin, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said there was an "active campaign" to disguise the movement of shadow fleet vessels.

"As the routing has been diverted away from the English Channel and over the northern coast of Scotland and west of Ireland, that area has also seen increased AIS manipulation. It aims to disguise any transit that might be happening, to confuse the trackers," Erausquin said.

There have been times when authorities can spot a mismatch between a vessel's AIS information and its actual appearance. But Tallis says the deception may be enough to pass an initial check or avoid detection by automated tracking systems.

In June, British forces boarded and seized the oil tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel. The vessel was sailing under a false Cameroonian flag and was carrying sanctioned Russian oil.

The six-hour operation on June 14 involved Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained officers from Britain's National Crime Agency. It was supported by aircraft from the Maritime Air Group, including Chinooks, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat helicopters, as well as an RAF P-8 aircraft and the Royal Navy ships HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.

The Smyrtos was later moved to an anchorage off England's south coast, where it has been monitored for environmental and safety risks, according to Riviera. The operation was the first UK-led action of its kind.

Since the seizure, some Russian-linked tankers have reportedly changed their routes and are now sailing around northern Scotland and west of Ireland.

A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said Russian President Vladimir Putin relies on the shadow fleet to fund the war in Ukraine. "Every day our Armed Forces are working alongside allies to track, challenge and deter Russian activity in and around UK waters," they added.