Meanwhile, these ships, with their changing names and flags, their sanctioned cargoes, and their extremely dubious ownership are deteriorating, missing scheduled drydocking, carrying insurance that may effectively be non-existent, and registering every sort of increased risk.
When you think that just a few years ago, the tanker sector had a reputation for operational excellence second to none, it is very depressing to think of this blot on the shipping industry’s good name.
And the dark fleet is just one facet of the geopolitical clouds that are building up in the maritime world. Who on earth would have thought that a gang of rebel tribesmen would have had the ability to effectively shut off one of the world’s great maritime arteries, attacking, capturing, and sinking passing merchant vessels on their entirely lawful voyages, killing and injuring their crews?
Two years after their alignment with Hamas, their attacks persist, the pirates continuously armed by their Iranian paymasters.