For the first time, the Danish authorities have monitored, summoned and registered what are formally referred to as EU sanction-designated ships over a year. 292 shadow fleet voyages were registered in Danish waters last year. This is shown by a calculation that the Danish Maritime Authority has made for DR.
The cargo is suspected of being sanctioned Russian oil. The primary purpose of the shadow fleet is to keep Russia's oil exports going - and thus finance the war in Ukraine - and therefore the EU is trying to hit exports with sanctions, writes DR.
According to senior researcher Flemming Splidsboel from the Danish Institute for International Studies, Russia is pressured by the sanctions, but not to its knees. He estimates to DR that Russia is willing to take greater risks to get the oil out, and that the shadow fleet will therefore continue sailing.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes in a response to DR that the authorities believe that the sanctions are working and that it has become more difficult for the shadow fleet to operate. According to DR, the sailings take place in broad daylight. But when the authorities ask for certificates and papers, they get no answer.
In addition to sanctioned oil, the cargo, according to DR, could also contain other and potentially more problematic chemicals, weapons or personnel.
According to Yevgeniy Golovchenko, an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen and a researcher into the shadow fleet, the ships pose a potential threat to Danish national security.
- They are suspected, among other things, of monitoring or participating in sabotage against critical infrastructure, he tells DR and continues:
- And it is a core element of hybrid warfare to try to harm the other party - in this case us - while keeping this conflict below the threshold of formal war.
/ritzau/
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