Healey noted 250 ships have been sanctioned in the past year alone, with Russian oil revenues cut by a quarter in that time.
On Thursday, the French navy intercepted a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker – named the Grinch – which President Emmanuel Macron said was “subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag”.
The UK government has identified a legal basis which it believes can be used to allow UK military to board and detain vessels in shadow fleets, BBC News understands.
The Sanctions and Money Laundering Act from 2018 can be used to approve the use of military force, ministers believe.
Last week, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC the UK was working with European allies on “more assertive” action against shadow fleet vessels.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin responded to Cooper’s comments by warning that shadow fleet vessels could soon be escorted by Russian government vessels.
“This is a deliberate escalation of instability, the consequences of which for international law and order and global trade will be extremely serious,” Kelin told Russian newspaper Izvestia, external.
“The result may be higher prices for raw materials and goods, as well as insurance for ships. Security ships will appear.”
He added: “What politicians in London are talking about is essentially a return to the era of the pirate Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard.”