Europe Targets Shadow Fleet Tankers Falsely Using Cameroon Flag

European naval missions are taking a tougher stance against oil tankers falsely registering under Cameroon's flag to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil. Operation IRINI, the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean, has expanded its mandate to allow for the stopping, boarding, detention, and inspection of vessels suspected of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet."

This crackdown has prompted Cameroon to remove 39 vessels from its ship registry. Officials and documents revealed that several tankers, including the Nelsa, Oneiroi, and Sandhya, were found using fraudulent Cameroonian registration after being boarded and inspected by IRINI. Since the start of 2026, nine other ships, five of which flew Cameroonian flags, have been seized by French, Belgian, British, and Swedish navies.

Cameroon's government acknowledged in a letter to the UN shipping agency that its registry had been misused. An investigation confirmed that numerous vessels were unlawfully operating under its flag, with two websites fraudulently assigning the country's flag to ships. The central African nation has become a significant conduit for fraudulent shipping, leading the United Arab Emirates to bar Cameroon-flagged ships without top-tier safety certification from its ports in 2024.

Cameroon's transport ministry stated it is cooperating with international authorities to enforce maritime rules and protect its registry's credibility, adding that it cannot be held responsible for vessels after de-registration. The EU is preparing a further round of sanctions for mid-July, targeting the shadow fleet to curb Russia's war funding and change practices that pose a danger.

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The idea is to change the best practices, what different countries are doing with those ships, because it is really posing a danger, and of course also the idea is to curb Russia from the funding of this war.