US senators submit bill to crack down on Russia's shadow fleet

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation on April 9 to intensify the enforcement of sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, seeking to crack down on oil shipments that fund Moscow’s war against Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The proposed law would authorize U.S. authorities to confiscate oil cargoes transported by vessels blacklisted by the Treasury Department. Proceeds from the sale of the seized oil would be directed toward reducing the U.S. national debt.

Despite price caps and sanctions imposed by the G7 and EU, Russia has maintained significant oil exports by relying on a shadow fleet — vessels that often operate under obscure ownership structures, use flags of convenience, and evade Western oversight.

The bill calls for the creation of a $150 million Russian Sanctions Enforcement Fund within the Treasury Department to bolster efforts to monitor and disrupt illegal oil trade networks.

"Russia is continuing its malign actions by operating a ‘ghost fleet’ to evade U.S. sanctions, enrich its own war machine, and even aid Iranian oil smuggling," said Republican Senator Joni Ernst, one of the bill’s sponsors.

“In addition to disrupting Moscow’s malign efforts to undermine U.S. law, this bill will also arm our nation to utilize the seized assets and pay down our own debt,” she added.

The proposed bill would also expand intelligence sharing to help track vessels involved in sanctions evasion and bolster law enforcement capabilities to dismantle Moscow’s energy export networks.

US senators submit bill to crack down on Russia's shadow fleet

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on April 10 that Kyiv is preparing its own sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet.

“There is a corresponding justification from the special services; these are strong packages,” Zelensky said. “These are about the shadow tanker fleet that Moscow uses to finance the war."

As of January, more than 200 tankers were under U.S. sanctions for facilitating the transport of Russian oil in violation of international restrictions.

The Biden administration’s final sanctions package, introduced in early January, targeted 180 vessels — a fleet responsible for roughly half of Russia’s offshore oil exports.

German authorities seized one such vessel, the Panama-flagged Eventin, in late March. The tanker was carrying approximately 100,000 tons of Russian oil, which was confiscated.