Baltic States Prepare Rules To Combat Putin's "shadow Fleet"

• 18.05.2025, 14:43

RF ships will no longer hide.

A number of European Union countries will develop rules for dealing with vessels of the so-called "shadow fleet" of the Russian Federation in the Baltic Sea.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kiastutis Budrys said this, according to Delfi.

The minister's statement came amid an incident in Estonia, when a "shadow fleet" vessel was spotted in its economic waters. The crew of the vessel refused to comply with the instructions of the Estonian authorities.

"We will coordinate and develop common rules within the CBSS on how to deal with cases where vessels do not obey instructions or vessels are classified as "shadow fleet" and have no flag at all, as was the case this time. They should not be subject to international legal norms protecting their jurisdiction," Budrys said.

He said the Council of Baltic Sea States had also discussed the possibility of restricting the movement of shadow vessels through the straits.

"International maritime law is not quite clear in this situation, but it is obvious that when there are vessels without a flag, the space for coastal states to act is wider," the Lithuanian foreign minister said.

He believes that the expansion of the sanctions list against shadow vessels will also limit Russia's ability to use its fleet.

"Another measure is to synchronize all the existing lists of vessels that are on different sanctions lists, in different jurisdictions. These are the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the European Union. We need to expand this list. After the 17th package, there are 350 vessels there now, we need to fill it completely to further reduce Russia's ability to use the fleet and pose a threat to us," Budrys said.