Russian Shadow Fleet’s First Channel Vessel Since Smyrtos Operation
After Royal Marines boarded the privately‑registered blocker Smyrtos early in the week, no sanctioned Russian tankers were seen entering the English Channel for months. This week, the Forwarder – a Russian‑flagged tanker that left Primorsk on 12 June with a load of oil – broke that pattern, sailing through the waterway on Wednesday evening and proceeding south toward Dongying port, China.
The vessel’s AIS transmissions showed it broadcasting the final destination as Dongying. Tracking data also points to a Royal Navy warship, HMS Tyne, watching the area, while a Russian frigate, Admiral Grigorovich, remains on station near the same sector.
BBC Verify asked the UK Ministry of Defence for comment, but official remarks were not yet available.
Forwarder was sanctioned by the UK, US and EU in 2025 for alleged oil smuggling. The ship, which has changed names twice, still carries a Russian flag and its ownership is opaque but not identified as a false flag.
The vessel’s departure from Primorsk – the largest oil export hub on the Baltic Sea – was captured in satellite imagery on 12 June, after loading oil.
Satellite imagery also shows other shadow fleet tankers altering routes to avoid the Channel since the Smyrtos boarding. Many now take a detour around the west coast of Ireland. In May, estimates claimed almost 200 shadow fleet vessels had passed through the Channel after the UK announced it could board sanctioned ships.
In the era of heightened maritime surveillance, the Forwarder’s Channel entry has sparked debate. Maritime analyst Frederik Van Lokeren argued that the UK would not board a Russian‑flagged vessel unless it was actively violating international law, and that the presence of a Russian warship made any intervention unlikely.
The incident recalls the 2022 surge in sanctions that forced the Kremlin to rely on a clandestine fleet of more than 700 aged tankers to transport approximately 75 % of its sanctioned oil. The shadow fleet remains a critical lifeline for Russia’s energy exports.
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