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The head of the world’s largest publicly traded oil tanker operator has accused the UN maritime body of being “asleep at the wheel” over a growing dark fleet of unregulated ships, saying it is “only a matter of time” before a major disaster unfolds.
Lars Barstad, CEO of Frontline, also criticized European governments for failing to implement rules to limit trade in Russian oil, saying they were worried about rising energy prices.
The number of Dark Fleet ships has grown to about a fifth of the world’s fleet after Russian-linked owners bought hundreds of aging ships to circumvent Western restrictions on the country’s oil trade.
The potential for disaster was illustrated in July when the Hafnia Nile, a tanker operated by Singapore’s Hafnia, collided with the Ceres I, a Dark Fleet ship carrying Iranian oil, in waters off Malaysia.
According to a subsequent US Treasury sanctions notice against the owners of Ceres I, at the time of the collision the vessel’s radar system was broadcasting an incorrect location — a common tactic for Dark Fleet ships trying to cover up their activities.
The dark fleet ships, which carry oil from Iran and Venezuela as well as Russia, are generally owned by offshore companies whose ownership is unclear and often lack adequate insurance. They are often registered under the flags of countries that have little enforcement of regular safety inspection rules.
Barstad said he was “very, very concerned” about the growth of the dark fleet, which he said had encouraged numerous “law-breaking operators” to make “crazy amounts of money.”
He added that it was International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN body, was doing too little to ensure that its safety and environmental rules were enforced.
“All these vessels . . . they trade outside the IMO framework,” Barstad said. “Regarding tankers, they’ve been asleep at the wheel for a while now.”
There have been 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 get a big one.”
A ship like the 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,” said Barstad. “It could happen any day – and then the biggest problem is that if it does, nobody will know who really owns the ship or the cargo.”
Shipowners that complied, like Frontline, faced disadvantages as many others operated at lower costs in unregulated dark fleets, Barstad added. He said this reflected a lack of will on the part of politicians to implement the sanctions.
“Politicians 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 cut off from international markets.
There have been persistent suggestions that countries such as Denmark — which controls access to the Baltic — and countries along the English Channel should inspect and take control of tankers that sail past their coasts without adequate security.
Barstad declined to single out specific states, but said, “It seems like an extremely half-hearted way of enforcing enforcement. You need to take a tough position if you are serious about this.”
The IMO said in response to Barstad’s criticism that its general assembly passed a resolution in late 2023 calling on member states to take tougher measures against fraudulent ship registrations and to step up inspections of vessels in port.
It also stated that member states have a responsibility to ensure that vessels flying their flag follow the necessary rules and to ensure that ships visiting their ports do so.
