Sanctioned vessels continue to pass through UK waters
In the month following UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement of an initiative to inspect Russian-sanctioned vessels, at least 98 such ships have passed through British waters unimpeded.
Despite the declaration of intent to inspect ships from the so-called Russian “shadow fleet”, UK authorities have not conducted any detentions or inspections. Of these ships, 63 passed through the English Channel, and another 35 through the economic zone near Scotland. Some vessels used spoofing – methods of manipulating geolocation data to avoid tracking.
According to experts, without real action from London, Starmer’s statements remain mere rhetoric. The UK Ministry of Defence has refrained from commenting, while analysts cite several reasons for the inaction. The main ones are the overload of the Royal Navy and the absence of a specialized coast guard service, as is present in EU countries.
London may also fear legal and economic repercussions of mass detentions of ships, as there are currently 544 ships on the UK’s sanction list. It is worth noting that in March, the British government promised to start detaining ships associated with the transport of Russian energy resources.
