Shadow Fleet's 1,800 Ships Face Spill Risk as More Than Half of Tankers May Need Scrapping
Updated
Updated · EADaily · Jun 1
Shadow Fleet's 1,800 Ships Face Spill Risk as More Than Half of Tankers May Need Scrapping
5 articles · Updated · EADaily · Jun 1
More than half of shadow-fleet tankers may need scrapping, GMS Partnership's Anil Sharma told the Financial Times, warning the aging vessels pose a high risk of a major oil spill.
About 1,800 ships are in the shadow fleet, including roughly 1,500 oil and food tankers; many are over 20 years old, corroded, uninsured and run with outdated systems and substandard crews.
Sanctions and profitable trading have kept owners operating these vessels instead of retiring them, while the Strait of Hormuz closure has also slowed recycling by tying up tankers for oil storage in the Gulf.
Sharma said demand to dispose of old ships could jump if Hormuz reopens, with some vessels already designated for scrapping currently trapped in the bay.
The warning points to a potential environmental disaster on the scale of the 1979 Ixtoc spill, which released more than 2 million barrels of oil into the sea.
Are 'ghost ships' a ticking environmental bomb or a new weapon in a hidden naval war?
Sanctions created a dangerous ghost fleet. Can a new legal recycling plan now make them disappear?
1,500 Aging Tankers, One Global Crisis: The Shadow Fleet’s Threat to Maritime Safety, Environment, and Sanctions Enforcement in 2026
Overview
As of mid-2026, the shadow fleet of oil tankers—now estimated at 1,500 ageing or lightly regulated vessels—has more than tripled in size since early 2022. Operating under opaque ownership structures, these ships facilitate Russian oil exports while circumventing Western sanctions. Many tankers run outside the international insurance system and often present falsified or expired certificates, greatly increasing the risk of catastrophic incidents. In response, the international community has stepped up vigilance and direct action, but the fleet’s rapid growth and lack of oversight continue to pose immediate threats to maritime safety, the environment, and geopolitical stability.