Drone surveillance and systematic sanctions: EU says ‘stop’ to Russia’s ghost ships

Brussels – Stop ghost ships that fuel Russia’s business and circumvent EU sanctions adopted in response to the aggression against Ukraine. The European Parliament, meeting in Brussels for its ‘mini’ plenary session, revisits the notorious phenomenon of boats that “do not exist” but sail in European seas, allowing Moscow to continue funding its war machine.

The system already identified by the European Commission’s services is built around the use of old tankers, often uninsured and with unclear ownership, used to export crude oil and its petroleum products abroad. It allows trading of products subject to international, EU, and G7 sanctions, circumventing them.

For this reason, MEPs call (text voted by a show of hands) for systematic sanctions against ships passing through EU waters without insurance. The EU and its member states are called upon to strengthen its surveillance capabilities, “in particular monitoring with drones and satellites,” in addition to conducting targeted inspections at sea. In this regard, individual governments should designate port facilities capable of handling sanctioned ships carrying crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Speaking of LNG, a clampdown on purchases of any Russian energy product is called for. Emphasizing that “the impact of existing sanctions and financial and military support to Ukraine will continue to be undermined as long as the EU imports Russian fossil fuels,” the House of the European Parliament calls on everyone to ban all imports of Russian fossil fuels, including liquefied natural gas. It needs, in essence, “much stricter enforcement of the current EU sanctions.”