UK ready to 'tighten chokehold' on Russia's shadow fleet

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has told the BBC the UK is ready to work with European allies to intercept sanction-busting oil tankers in Russia's shadow fleet.

She was speaking on board a patrol ship in Helsinki harbour where she watched armed border agents rappel from a helicopter to show how they seize Russian vessels.

Cooper promised more "assertive action" to "tighten the chokehold" on the shadow fleet with more "disruption" and "enforcement measures".

Last week British armed forces supported a US operation to seize a Russian-flagged tanker in the Atlantic which US officials said had broken sanctions by carrying oil for Venezuela and Russia.

The foreign secretary told the BBC: "We've already acted in support of US action, and you've seen the interdiction we've taken, we also stand ready to work with other countries and with other allies on the kind of enforcement action we need there."

Cooper was briefed on the Turva offshore patrol vessel which two weeks ago detained a cargo vessel called the Fitburg suspected of damaging an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea by dragging its anchor.

"We're going to look at a wide range of ways in which to increase that pressure on the Russian shadow fleet," she said.

"We need to protect our undersea cables. We need to protect our critical national infrastructure and protect our environment from these often decrepit and dangerous vessels that are also fuelling the war in Ukraine, and that's why we'll take that stronger action.

"We're ready for much stronger enforcement, a much more assertive and robust approach, so that we don't have that navigation becoming sabotage instead."

To date, no UK military personnel have boarded any vessels.

BBC News understands the government has identified a legal basis to allow the UK military to board and detain vessels in so-called shadow fleets.

The Sanctions and Money Laundering Act, from 2018 can be used to approve the use of military force, ministers believe.

Cooper said the shadow fleet was not just fuelling the war in Ukraine by allowing Russia to evade sanctions, but it was also a threat to UK national security.

She told the BBC: "I've been talking to our Finnish allies about the action that they're taking against the shadow fleet, but also the intensifying action that we all want to take together now we're determined to have a much more assertive approach to tighten that chokehold on the Russian shadow fleet."

Cooper added that the government was also working internationally to pursue a maritime services ban.

Last week, British armed forces supported the seizure of the Marinera which was stopped by the US Coast Guard as it travelled northwards through waters between Iceland and Scotland.

The Russian-flagged oil tanker seized is accused of being part of a shadow fleet breaking US sanctions. But Moscow denounced the move, saying no state had the right to use force against vessels properly registered in other states' jurisdictions.

Shadow fleets, or ghost fleets, are becoming increasingly common, with Venezuela, Iran and Russia all accused of using them to avoid sanctions on oil.

Financial intelligence firm S&P Global estimates that one in five oil tankers worldwide are used to smuggle oil from sanctioned countries. The ships are often ageing tankers and use false flags to try and avoid detection.