The ghost fleet moving Russia’s oil could soon enter Trump’s crosshairs

A growing fleet of “ghost ships” are frequently delivering sanctioned Russian oil to ports in China and India, a growing fleet that is often unmarked and hidden from trade tracking systems, heightening tensions with Washington as high-stakes trade negotiations with both countries get under way.

president Donald Trump India has agreed to stop the practice of buying Russian crude at discounted prices and re-export refined petroleum products to the global market, a tactic that supports Moscow’s wartime economy, it said Wednesday.

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Trump has used it before Definitions on Indian imports as economic pressure, framing the move as part of a broader strategy to hold countries accountable for unfair trade practices and undermine Western sanctions.

Trump said that India cannot stop oil shipments “immediately,” adding that it would be “a small operation, but the operation will be over soon.”

Central to Trump’s argument is a secret network of unmarked oil tankers — often referred to as “ghost ships” — that have been quietly transporting Russian crude in defiance of price limits set by the G7 and European Union sanctions imposed in the wake of the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The tanker Eventin off the coast of Germany was previously reported to be transporting crude oil from Russia. (Stefan Sauer/Image Alliance via/Getty Images)

“Russia is able to avoid some of the worst parts of sanctions against its energy exports through its shadow fleet,” Benjamin Jensen, director of the Futures Lab at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Fox News Digital in a previous interview.

“Energy is the lifeblood of the Kremlin’s economy,” Jensen said. “The hard money they earn from exports allows them to pay new contract soldiers quickly and produce more weapons.”

He added that countries that regularly buy sanctioned oil “actively support Russia in its war.”

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The Trump administration has intensified economic pressure on Russia and its allies in order to end the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. (Kostiantin Librov/Lipkus/Getty Images)

Despite US sanctions, China is the main importer of this substance Iranian Oil and the second-largest buyer of Russian crude, much of which is pumped via a growing fleet of untraceable “ghost ships.”

A secret maritime network of “ghost ships” is attracting renewed attention as the Trump administration ramps up economic pressure to end the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

Jensen, who is also a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Russia’s “ghost fleet” is using numerous evasion tactics to circumvent US sanctions.

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The tanker Eventen is part of a secret maritime network of “ghost ships” that transport Russian oil to foreign ports. (Stefan Sauer/Image Alliance via/Getty Images)

These ships often operate under foreign flags to hide their origins, frequently change names, transfer ownership through shell companies, disable transponders to avoid tracking, and conduct mid-sea transfers to hide their cargo.

“Imagine a ship leaving port, meeting another in international waters, transferring its cargo, and then the second ship continues the voyage,” Jensen told Fox News Digital of ship-to-ship transfers.

“In some cases, crew members may not always realize they are transporting illegal Russian oil,” Jensen added.

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Earlier this year, German authorities seized the 19-year-old crude oil tanker, named Eventen, after the ship suffered an engine failure in the Baltic Sea. The ship was previously identified as a ship exporting Russian crude oil and other petroleum products.

German authorities discovered that the Panama-flagged ship, previously named Charvi and Storviken, was carrying 99,000 tons, or the equivalent of about $45 million, of Russian oil.

German authorities seized the tanker Eventen in early 2025 after it suffered an engine failure. (Stefan Sauer/Picture Alliance/Getty Images)

Although some ships in the Shadow Fleet have been intercepted, a comprehensive approach involving the entire government is needed, Jensen said.

He described one that brought together the intelligence and law enforcement community and agencies such as the Commerce and Treasury Departments to coordinate with international partners, seizing ships and making it more difficult for Russia to circumvent sanctions.

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“You will never be able to completely stop all oil smuggling, but you can reduce it and make it harder and harder,” Jensen said.

“But don’t think this is an issue just for China, Iran or North Korea. There are plenty of countries where trade representatives see an opportunity to increase their margins, and that makes fake oil more attractive.”