Overview

• Allianz Commercial counts about 600 tankers in the shadow fleet carrying Russian oil, roughly 350 of which face EU sanctions that bar them from ports and maintenance services
• Last year saw a record low of 27 total ship losses but a 10% increase to 3,310 maritime incidents, with fires, collisions and extreme weather as the main causes
• Opaque ownership structures and frequent vessel transfers hinder tracking and insurance, leaving underwriters exposed to unresolved claims
• Cleanup costs from a major oil spill by one of these tankers could reach up to $1.6 billion in uninsured expenses, and not all affected states are covered by international compensation funds
• In January the tanker Event drifted off Rügen after a power outage and a Russian Su-35’s unannounced entry during NATO’s Siil 2025 drills prompted a NATO F-16 scramble, demonstrating real-time safety and escalation threats