At a Glance:
- The EU’s 19th sanctions package and the U.S. actions on Rosneft and Lukoil mark a turning point in global energy enforcement.
- False-flag vessels now account for 29% of the dark fleet, with new fraudulent registries emerging from Tonga, Maldives, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Zambia, and Gambia.
- Fragmented enforcement between the U.S., EU, and UK is leaving regulatory gaps that enable evasion.
- GPS jamming, spoofing, and weakly flagged vessels are creating rising safety and environmental risks.
- Experts agree: compliance now depends on real-time visibility and proactive intelligence as shipping goes darker.
A Turning Point for Sanctions, Security, and Shipping
In Q4 2025, maritime sanctions enforcement took another leap forward. With the EU’s 19th sanctions package and OFAC’s designation of Rosneft and Lukoil, regulators made it clear that energy flows, not just vessels, are now at the center of enforcement strategies.
While sanctions designations continue to expand, deceptive shipping practices (DSPs) are evolving even faster. Ships are switching flags mid-voyage, masking false port calls as legitimate operations, and hiding behind entities that thrive in regulatory gray zones. Static tools can no longer keep pace with this level of…