Norway Joins Neighbors Targeting Shadow Tankers with Insurance Checks

Norwegian Coastal Administration — Norway's Coastal Administration will contact transfers transiting Norwegian waters (Forsvarets)

The Norwegian government is the latest to announce that it is starting a program of insurance checks on tankers transiting its waters. Norway joins neighboring countries and the EU, which have all moved to increase checks and enforcement on the shadow fleet as the number of tankers involved in the trade continues to rapidly grow.

“The government takes the challenges associated with the shadow fleet seriously,” says Minister of Fisheries and the Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Naess. “This type of traffic poses an increased risk to both the environment and safety at sea, while also helping to finance Russia's illegal warfare.”

Starting on August 11, Norway is introducing a practice where foreign-registered oil tankers in the Norwegian economic zone will be called upon to voluntarily provide information about their insurance. The Coastal Administration will be responsible for the calling, while the Norwegian Maritime Directorate will verify the information.

Norway has not specified any enforcement actions that would be taken, but the program is seen as a further deterrent to limit the movement of the shadow fleet. The EU authorized member countries to take similar actions, and countries including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are each undertaking efforts to track tankers and to seek insurance information.

Estonia’s efforts have resulted in showdowns between the vessels, while both Estonia and Germany have detained tankers found to have questionable papers.

Norway says its efforts will “contribute to even greater parts of the sea areas in Northern Europe being covered by control measures.” The program will be tested for six months. Norway says it will then evaluate the results in consultation with, among others, the maritime industry.

The move comes as analysts continue to highlight the rapid growth in the shadow fleet. While both the EU and the UK have moved aggressively to expand the number of tankers sanctioned, reports highlight that the shadow fleet has now topped 1,100 vessels. Brokers BRS reported that 18 percent of the world's tanker tonnage now operates in the dark, while it estimates as many as one tanker a day is going dark.

Looming over the Russian oil trade are Donald Trump’s threats of more sanctions. He had given Russia a deadline for the Ukraine war and said he would explore broad sanctions on the shadow fleet and the buyers of Russian oil. Tomorrow, August 8, was speculated to be Trump’s deadline, although word comes today that a meeting is now being planned between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said terms have been agreed and that the meeting will happen in the coming days.