Chris Wright: US helping to legalise shadow fleet tankers for oil transport

Vessels transitioning to the legal market segment

The administration of US President Donald Trump is taking steps to integrate dozens, or possibly hundreds, of tankers belonging to the so-called “shadow fleet” into the legal sphere. The main objective of these actions is to use these vessels for transporting oil that is not subject to sanctions restrictions.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright reported on this initiative. According to him, the US government is cooperating with investors who purchase idle, sanctioned tankers, restore their technical condition, and subsequently operate them to transport oil to which sanctions restrictions do not apply.

Change of purpose, not lifting of restrictions

The minister emphasised that this is not about lifting sanctions, but about changing the functional purpose of specific vessels. A portion of the tankers is planned to be moved from the fleet that previously transported sanctioned oil to the legal segment of the market.

“No lifting of sanctions is taking place. We are going to move some vessels from what I call the ‘bad guys’ fleet to the ‘good guys’ fleet. They will no longer transport oil that is subject to sanctions,” Chris Wright noted.