Inside the booming ‘shadow fleet’ industry keeping rogue states afloat
Countries like North Korea and Russia are developing ever-more sophisticated tactics to stay one step ahead of sanctions enforcers. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
In the East China Sea during the night of April 2023, a North Korean oil tanker operating under a different flag vanished from its tracking system. A week later, the ship resurfaced off the southern Chinese coast, delivering oil in breach of UN sanctions. Justin Hastings, an international relations professor at the University of Sydney, specializes in tracing North Korea's "shadow fleets," which employ tactics to conceal their identities.
Hastings explains to The Conversation Weekly podcast how the vastness of the ocean and international law's presumption make it challenging to stop such ships. He likens the global oceans to a "Wild West," where nations like Russia and Iran have adopted North Korea's evasion techniques. While boarding the ships could help curb evasion, the sheer number of vessels and the high cost and danger of interdiction make it an impractical solution.
Hastings has no financial ties to the article's subject matter and has disclosed no relevant affiliations.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
