Vessels seized by the U.S. this week were part of a global 'shadow fleet'

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is still in effect, but the maritime standoff between the two countries intensified this week. Iran attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them, as its blockade on the strait continues. The U.S. military also seized two tankers in the Indian Ocean, both associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil. In a statement, the Pentagon said it would continue to disrupt these illicit networks and vessels. Here to tell us more is Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, which is a nonpartisan think tank. Hi there.

ELISABETH BRAW: Hello.

SUMMERS: You are an expert on so-called shadow vessels. Would you describe the ships that were seized this week as shadow vessels?

BRAW: So the ships that the United States targeted were considered part of the shadow fleet. Now, when one says shadow fleet, people imagine that it's a global sort of official fleet. It's not an official fleet. It's vessels that can be defined as operating outside the official shipping system. And why that is so important is because Iran uses it to export its oil because Iran is under sanctions. That means that essentially legitimately operating shipping companies and insurers can't transport Iranian oil. So Iran uses shadow vessels, which is why they've become so so crucial and interesting in this standoff.

SUMMERS: So for those of us who are not experts, what do these kinds of vessels look like? So if I were to spot one in the ocean, what might I see?

BRAW: You'd see a normal vessel, which is why it's so maddening, really. So these are normal vessels. They are just mostly very old. When they were supposed to have been retired and scrapped, they were instead sold on to people who operate in the shadows. And they essentially have a second life - a retirement life, as it were - transporting sanctioned oil, for the most part, sanctioned goods, other cargo as well. And they do so to and from countries like Iran, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela in the past, those sorts of countries.

And what is dangerous about them is that you can't tell from looking from afar whether it's a shadow vessel or not, and you can't actually be sure that the ship is where it's supposed to be because these ships turn off the maritime equivalent of GPS, so nobody can really know where they are because, of course, they want to hide. So it's all a very subversive business, but it allows sanctioned countries to stay afloat, as it were.

SUMMERS: Yeah. So what problems do shadow vessels pose in international waters? Why is it that the U.S. and other countries are so concerned about this?

BRAW: The first problem they pose is really a maritime order problem. So it's like having a ghost driver on the highway driving a rust bucket. So a vessel or lots of vessels whose position you can't really know. And again, they are old which means they are likely to sustain spills, and that is very dangerous if you're in the business of transporting oil. It's very dangerous for that maritime environment. And again, because they don't signal where they are, they are likely to cause accidents by colliding with other ships, and often their crews are not very experienced, and that is a massive problem for the countries that see the most traffic, which is the countries in the Baltic Sea region.

SUMMERS: OK> In a report that came out earlier this week, you wrote, quote, "the shadow fleet is undermining the maritime order more brazenly than ever." What's changed?

BRAW: It is fascinating to see how these vessels change their behavior. So when the shadow fleet first started growing explosively, which is when Russia started using it in December of 2022, it was essentially vessels sailing with dubious insurance certificates, and they were very old. Now, what these vessels and their owners have instead started doing is them sailing without flag registration, for example, or with fraudulent flag registrations, which is a cardinal sin in the world of shipping, and they think they can get away with it.

SUMMERS: What can affected countries do to combat these shadow fleets?

BRAW: What we're seeing a lot now in the Baltic Sea, which is where most of the sort of law enforcement activity is taking place is that these countries - especially Sweden, Finland, Estonia - are boarding more vessels, inspecting whether they are seaworthy, inspecting their insurance documentation and, in some cases, especially, Sweden has detained a number of ships.

The United States has taken a different approach, which is essentially seizing the vessels far away from America. And that is controversial, but the United States would say, we are doing it to support the global maritime order. The countries in the Baltic Sea are a bit more - let's say, they use a more traditional understanding of maritime law when detaining vessels, but they are at the forefront of inspecting, and they are to be applauded for that because it's a dangerous business.

SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Thanks so much.

BRAW: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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