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The boss of the world’s largest public oil tanker operator has accused the UN body of maritime rules of being “asleep at the wheel” over the growing dark fleet of unregulated vessels, saying it was “only a matter of time ” before a major disaster. develops.
Lars Barstad, chief executive of Frontline, also criticized European governments for failing to implement rules aimed at restricting trade in Russian oil, saying they were worried about rising energy prices.
The number of Dark Fleet ships has risen to about a fifth of the world fleet after Russian-linked owners bought hundreds of aging ships to bypass Western borders on the country’s oil trade.
The potential for disaster was illustrated in July when the Hafnia Nile, a tanker operated by Singapore-based Hafnia, collided with the Ceres I, a Dark Fleet ship carrying Iranian oil, in Malaysian waters.
According to a later US Treasury sanctions notice against the owners of Ceres I, at the time of the collision the ship’s radar system was transmitting an incorrect location – a common tactic for Dark Fleet ships trying to hide their activities.
Dark Fleet vessels, which carry oil from Iran and Venezuela as well as Russia, are generally owned by offshore companies whose ownership is unclear and often lacks adequate insurance. They are often registered under the flags of countries that do little to enforce the rules for regular safety inspections.
Barstad said he was “very, very concerned” about the rise of the dark fleet, which he said had fueled a number of “law-breaking operators” to make a “crazy amount of money”.
He added that the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN body, was doing too little to ensure its safety and environmental rules were enforced.
“All these ships . . . are trading outside the IMO framework,” Barstad said. “They’ve been asleep at the wheel now for quite some time with regard to tankers.”
There were reports of other unconfirmed incidents besides the Ceres I collision, Barstad added. “I’m very surprised we haven’t had more incidents like this,” he said. “I think it’s only a matter of time until we have a big one.”
A ship like Ceres I — which was carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil — could split in two in a future incident, he said.
“That would be a bigger problem in the environment,” Barstad said. “It could happen any day – and then the biggest problem is that, if it happens, no one will know who actually owns the ship or the cargo.”
Shipowners that complied with the regulations, such as Frontline, were facing disadvantages because many others were operating at lower costs in unregulated dark fleets, Barstad added. He said this reflects politicians’ unwillingness to implement sanctions.
“Politicians have decided not to take political risks,” Barstad said, adding that he thought many feared higher energy prices if oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela were indeed excluded from international markets.
There have been persistent suggestions that countries such as Denmark – which controls access to the Baltic – and countries from the English Channel should inspect and seize tankers that sail near their coasts without proper insurance.
Barstad declined to single out specific states, but said: “It seems extremely half-hearted how the implementation has been done. A tough stance has to be taken if one is serious about this.”
The IMO said in response to Barstad’s criticism that its general assembly passed a resolution at the end of 2023 calling on member states to take tougher action on fraudulent ship registration and increase port inspections of ships.
He also said that member states had a responsibility to ensure that ships flying their flag followed the required rules and to ensure that ships visiting their ports did so.
