Sanctioned Russian vessels have entered British waters at least once a day since the government introduced measures to tackle the shadow fleet in March. However, none of these vessels have been intercepted, as admitted by a government minister. This has raised concerns about the repeated incursions into UK waters, especially with a Russian attack submarine and two spy submersibles being tracked near critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic for several weeks.
The joint committee for national security strategy questioned members of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) on Monday. This followed a review in September that criticized the government for being "too timid" in protecting undersea cables from state actors.
In response, the MoD announced new powers in March for armed forces to board sanctioned boats crossing into British waters. These measures aim to address the flow and influence of Russia’s shadow fleet vessels.
Liberal Democrats MP Mike Martin questioned Minister for Armed Forces Alistair Carns about the issue. He stated that 63 sanctioned Russian vessels had crossed through British waters since the new measures were implemented. "In March... the government declared it was going to be rolling out this programme to try and tackle the Russian shadow fleet, and since then... 63 sanctioned Russian vessels have transited UK territorial waters."
"That’s one a day," he said. "To my knowledge, we haven’t interdicted any of them. Is that correct?"
Mr. Carns did not dispute the figure, responding, "Yeah, so what I would say... We haven't interdicted them. What I would say, each sanctioned vessel has its own parameters."
The government has sanctioned 544 Russian shadow fleet vessels, according to Mr. Carns, who claimed that each vessel has "its different legal and policy parameters, depending on where it's flagged, depending on UNCLOS, depending on what waters it's in." The minister explained that he had spoken to lawyers almost every time a ship was flagged in British waters and that "if the opportunity presents itself and the parameters are met from a legal, policy, and operational perspective, we will board the vessel."
However, the number of sanctioned vessels referred to by Mr. Martin is far lower than recent estimations from the BBC. The BBC reported that 184 sanctioned ships crossed British waters between 25 March—when legislation was announced—and 3pm BST on 11 May, based on MarineTraffic data. Additionally, the i reported in April that more than 120 sanctioned tankers had crossed British waters since the new powers were introduced.
In March, Brussels seized an oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. The vessel, named ETHERA and under a Guinea flag, was suspected of sailing with a "false flag and false documents." It has been held at Zeebrugge port in Belgium ever since.
As part of the MoD’s efforts to counter Russia’s hybrid warfare, Defence Secretary Sir John Healey confirmed last month that the UK and allies had tracked a Russian attack submarine and two spy submersibles loitering over critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic for a month before they retreated. RAF crews flew more than 50 missions using P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft in the operation, which involved 500 British personnel and support from allies including Norway.
Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have accused the government of inaction and urged it to act more decisively on Russia’s surveillance tactics. Shadow defence minister David Reed stated last month that it was "clear the Government is not moving fast enough to deter our adversaries."
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "The UK is disrupting and deterring shadow fleet vessels and their harmful maritime activity, and since October 2024 we have challenged over 700 suspected shadow fleet vessels. We will not comment on specific operational planning or give a running commentary as this could compromise our ability to successfully take action against these ships, only benefitting our adversaries. Any target ship will be individually considered by law enforcement, military and energy market specialists before an operation is executed."
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