Hormuz Firestorm: Shadow Fleet Collision Ignites Urgent Questions for Shipping Industry

On Monday 16th of May, in the Strait of Hormuz, a Liberian-flagged Suezmax tanker crashed into a shadow ship, due to navigational errors amid GPS spoofing in the area.

A dramatic mid-sea collision in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday 16th of June has sent shockwaves through the maritime world, raising urgent questions about safety in one of the globe’s most critical shipping lanes. The 900-foot Adalynn, sailing under an Antigua and Barbuda flag without verified insurance, collided with the fully loaded Front Eagle, a Liberian-flagged supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil bound for China.

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The crash, just roughly 24 nautical miles off the UAE coast, exposed a critical vulnerability in one of the world’s most strategic maritime chokepoints, where nearly 20% of global oil supply flows. Though no casualties were reported, both shops caught fire and the Adalynn was engulfed in flames. Experts attribute the accident to navigational error amid GPS spoofing in the region as the Israeli-Iranian conflict escalates.

The Ukrainian government has previously accused the Adalynn of participating in the illicit transport of Russian oil and oil products from the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, and of deploying deceptive practices such as disabling its AIS transponder and operating covertly in Kola Bay during 2023 and 2024. 

AIS data confirms that the tanker was a regular presence between Ust-Luga and Vadinar, India where Russian state oil company Rosneft co-owns a large refinery. According to vessel tracking data, the shadow vessel has been loitering in the Gulf of Oman since May, raising further questions about its recent activities. 

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Incidents like this are no longer isolated. Similar close calls and collisions are periodically reported across regions, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. This reflects a growing and systemic threat to the global maritime community: the rise of the shadow fleet.

These often older, poorly maintained vessels operate largely outside regulations and standard safety frameworks. They primarily transport sanctioned goods, especially Russian oil, to bypass restrictions, navigating increasingly congested international waters.

While shadow vessels aren’t new, used by sanctioned regimes like Iran and Venezuela, their numbers have increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Estimates suggest the shadow fleet now makes up about 17% of the world tanker fleet. For captains, safety officers, and fleet operators, tracking these vessels is now essential for navigational safety, legal risk, and operational continuity.

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Ghost Ships: Bringing Their Tactics to Light

Shadow fleet vessels often operate under opaque ownership structures, making it difficult to identify who is accountable for their operations; they use of various flags of convenience, particularly newer or smaller registries less inclined or able to enforce regulations; and many rely on untested or unreliable insurers.

Shadow vessels also routinely employ deceptive shipping practices, such as intentionally disabling their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) to hide their movements and manipulating location data (spoofing).

Tactic	Description
Dark activities	Disabling AIS to conceal vessel movements from authorities and other ships.
Location (GNSS) manipulation	Manipulating satellite navigation data to distort the vessel’s actual position.
Weak ownership structures	Using complex ownership setups to hide the true owners of the ships.
Multiple flags of convenience	Frequent switching of flags (flag hopping) to avoid sanctions and regulatory scrutiny.

Avoiding the Shadows: High-Risk Routes and Transfers

Shadow fleet activity, particularly risky ship-to-ship (STS) transfers, is concentrated in specific geographic areas to evade detection, ranging from the Baltic to Black Sea ports. A significant share of this traffic involves Russian crude oil, much of it destined for India, China, and Turkey, which together receive 95% of these exports.

Key maritime chokepoints have likewise seen a surge in shadow activity since 2022, including the Danish Straits, the Dover and Gibraltar Straits, the Suez Canal, the Korean Straits, and the Strait of Malacca. Russia is also increasingly using the Arctic Northern Sea Route, further expanding the geographic spread of this traffic. 

Russia’s seaborne crude oil shipments for destination by shadow fleet (kbbl/day) (source: European Parliamentary Research Service)

Invisible and Unsafe: The Growing Collision Crisis

Shadow fleet involved in more than 50 incidents (source: TradeWinds)

Shadow fleet vessels pose serious risks to legitimate ships by “going dark”—disabling AIS and using deceptive tactics to avoid detection—making them invisible and creating collision hazards, especially in busy shipping lanes. Often older and poorly maintained, these ships are prone to mechanical failures and may not respond properly in emergencies, increasing accident risks.

Hazardous operations like offshore ship-to-ship (STS) transfers further raise the chance of incidents. Notable collisions involving suspected shadow vessels have occurred off Malaysia and in Danish waters. Their lack of proper insurance often leaves victims struggling to recover damages.

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