The rising number of tankers transporting sanctioned oil and petroleum products under the radar is holding back efforts of the global shipping industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The old tankers carrying sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela typically use the cheapest fuel available and operators of these vessels have no incentive whatsoever to comply with industry standards, including emission standards, Reuters reports, citing shipping sources and shipping data.
“A lot of shadow vessels have no scrubbers but they buy high sulfur fuel oil when they are in Russia,” an industry source told Reuters. “So, they are breaching the IMO's sulfur limit,” the source added. Last year, IMO set out in its strategy indicative targets to reduce the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 20%, striving for 30%, by 2030, compared to 2008 levels.