Oil tanker boss says UN maritime agency ‘asleep’ over dark fleet threat
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The boss of the world’s largest listed oil tanker operator has accused the UN maritime rule-making body of being “in the driver’s seat” of the growing dark fleet of unregulated vessels, saying it is “only a matter of time” before it becomes one major catastrophe would occur.
Lars Barstad, Frontline’s chief executive, also criticized European governments for failing to enforce rules intended to restrict trade in Russian oil, saying they were worried about driving up energy prices.
The number of dark fleet ships has grown to about a fifth of the world’s fleet after Russian-linked owners bought up hundreds of old ships to get around Western countries’ restrictions on the country’s oil trade.
The potential for disaster was highlighted in July when the Hafnia Nile, a tanker owned by Singapore-based Hafnia, collided with the Ceres I, a dark fleet ship carrying Iranian oil, in waters off Malaysia.
According to a subsequent announcement of sanctions by the US Treasury Department against the owners of the Ceres I, the ship’s radar system reported an inaccurate location at the time of the collision – a common tactic used by Dark Fleet ships attempting to conceal their activities.
Dark Fleet vessels carrying oil from Iran and Venezuela, as well as Russia, are generally owned by offshore companies whose ownership is unclear and often lack adequate insurance. They are often registered under the flag of countries that do little to enforce rules on regular safety inspections.
Barstad said he was “very, very concerned” about the growth of the dark fleet, which he said had encouraged a number of “rogue operators” to make “an insane amount of money.”
He added that the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body, did too little to ensure enforcement of its safety and environmental regulations.
“All these ships. . . acting outside the IMO framework,” Barstad said. “They’ve been in the driver’s seat when it comes to tankers for quite some time now.”
There are reports of other, unconfirmed incidents besides the Ceres I collision, Barstad added. “I’m very surprised there haven’t been more incidents like this,” he said. “I think it’s just a matter of time before we get a big one.”
A ship like the Ceres I – which was carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil – could be split in two in a future incident, he said.
“That would be a major environmental problem,” Barstad said. “It can happen any day – and then the biggest problem is that no one knows who the ship or the cargo actually belongs to.”
Shipowners that followed the regulations, such as Frontline, faced disadvantage because so many others operated at lower costs in unregulated dark fleets, Barstad added. He said this reflected politicians’ unwillingness to enforce the sanctions.
“Politicians have decided not to take political risks,” Barstad said, adding that he believed many would fear higher energy prices if oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela were truly excluded from international markets.
There have been repeated suggestions that countries like Denmark – which controls access to the Baltic Sea – and countries along the English Channel should check and detain tankers that pass their shores without adequate insurance.
Barstad declined to single out specific states, but said, “The way the enforcement has been done appears to be extremely half-hearted. “If you’re serious, you should take a tough stance.”
In response to Barstad’s criticism, the IMO said its General Assembly adopted a resolution at the end of 2023 calling on member states to take stricter measures against fraudulent ship registrations and strengthen controls on ships in port.
It also states that Member States are responsible for ensuring that ships flying their flag follow the necessary rules and for ensuring that ships calling at their ports do so too.
