Britain has stopped just one Russian shadow fleet tanker in almost eight months since ministers gave the Armed Forces powers to board sanctioned ships in British waters.
A defence minister has admitted the Smyrtos, seized in the Channel in June, “remains the only vessel that has been interdicted”, while the Ministry of Defence refuses to say whether sanctioned traffic through UK waters has gone up or down.
The admission came in a written answer from the Armed Forces Minister, Louise Sandher-Jones, published on Wednesday. Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Green had asked how many vessels had been boarded, inspected or detained since the boarding powers were granted on 25 March.
“The Ministry of Defence stands ready to board shadow fleet vessels when required as shown through our interdiction of the Russian shadow fleet vessel MV SMYRTOS,” the minister replied. “At present, this remains the only vessel that has been interdicted.”
When the powers were announced in March, Downing Street said they would put “a further stranglehold on the shadow fleet, closing off UK waters, including the Channel, for sanctioned vessels”. Operators, it said, would have to “divert to longer, financially painful routes, or risk being detained by British forces”.
The one operation so far was a credit to those who carried it out. In the early hours of 14 June, Royal Marines from 42 Commando and National Crime Agency officers boarded the Smyrtos in the Channel in a six-hour operation backed by HMS Sutherland, HMS Ledbury, Merlin, Wildcat and Chinook helicopters and an RAF P-8 Poseidon.
The tanker has been held at anchor off Portland ever since, detained by the Transport Secretary under Russia sanctions regulations. Its master has been charged with breaching sanctions on Russian oil and is awaiting trial. Asked last week what the Government intends to do with the ship, transport minister Keir Mather said: “I will not make specific comment on operational decisions, as to do so would only benefit Russia.”
Ministers argue that the threat of boarding is doing much of the work. In October, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs there had been “a significant diversion of Shadow Fleet vessels away from the English Channel owing to the risk of being interdicted”.
There is evidence for that. Ship-tracking data reported by The i Paper in July showed most sanctioned tankers took the longer route around the north of Scotland in the fortnight after the seizure, adding days to their voyages, though the overall number passing through Britain’s exclusive economic zone rose.
But ministers will not say what has happened since. When Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary asked whether the number of such vessels transiting UK waters had risen or fallen since March, the Armed Forces Minister declined to answer. “We will not provide a running commentary or get into details of our decision-making process as this could compromise our ability to successfully take action against sanctioned ships,” she said.
Nor has the Channel been closed. Late last month the Talisman, a tanker on the UK sanctions list since July 2025, sailed through the Channel carrying Russian diesel from the Baltic, according to ship-tracking reported by the Financial Times and France 24. It was among the first cargoes sent under Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Vladimir Putin, before it turned south for the Mediterranean.
Britain has now sanctioned 640 shadow fleet vessels, according to the Foreign Office, up from 544 when the boarding powers were announced. The Government says the fleet carries around three quarters of Russia’s crude oil, money that pays for the war in Ukraine.
Other European countries, including France, Sweden, Estonia, Belgium, Germany and Finland, have seized around a dozen shadow fleet tankers between them since 2024, according to The i Paper.
The boarding powers were Sir Keir Starmer’s decision. But it is now Andy Burnham’s Government, and his Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, who must answer for how they are used.
The questions for ministers are straightforward. How many UK-sanctioned tankers have passed through British waters since March? How many were considered for boarding and turned down, and why? And when will the public be told what happens to the Smyrtos? Ministers said in July that the owner remained responsible for the ship and crew, and that the cost to the taxpayer at the end of June was nil.
In March, ministers promised to close the Channel to sanctioned ships. Almost eight months on, one has been stopped.
