Dark Fleet
The population of ageing, opaquely owned and often uninsured tankers that move sanctioned oil while disguising their movements.
- Category
- Risk and Sanctions
- Last reviewed
How it works
The "dark fleet" (or "shadow fleet") describes vessels, typically older tankers with murky ownership and substandard or absent mainstream insurance, used to carry sanctioned crude and products outside normal compliance channels. They rely on tactics like AIS gaps, identity manipulation and ship-to-ship transfers to obscure cargo origin.
On The Maritime we do not label any vessel a "dark-fleet" ship from our own analysis. We surface the underlying factual signals separately: official sanctions designations (OFAC / EU / UK / UN) on one hand, and observed AIS behaviour such as signal gaps, hull age and STS activity on the other. These are indicators for your own screening, not a determination.
Where it shows up on The Maritime
Also known as: dark fleet, shadow fleet, ghost fleet.
Related terms
Automatic Identification System (AIS)
A VHF transponder system that broadcasts a ship’s identity, position, course and speed for collision avoidance and tracking.
Ship-to-Ship Transfer (STS)
The transfer of cargo directly between two vessels moored alongside, often at anchor or offshore rather than at a terminal.
Sanctions
Government measures restricting trade or dealings with designated entities, vessels, cargoes or jurisdictions.
AIS Spoofing
The falsification of a ship’s broadcast position or identity on AIS to disguise where she really is or what she really is.
More risk and sanctions terms
A plain-English reference definition: our own explanation of a standard shipping concept, not a licensed source or legal advice. See the full glossary or the broader maritime dictionary.
Last reviewed: .