Some people watch Netflix in their free time. Remy Haussmann tracks a rusting tanker transporting illegal oil through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
From the roof of his Singapore apartment, a British expatriate who works as a food and drink salesman records the passage of shadowy ships often sanctioned by the United States and other Western countries to a growing online audience.
Shadow fleets, also known as ghost fleets or dark fleets, are vessels that use opaque tactics to transport oil to pariah states such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. Oil revenues from these fleets of aging tankers with opaque ownership are an important source of funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The United States has cracked down on the shadow fleet in recent months, seizing five sanctioned vessels as part of President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela and now-ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who was seized by the U.S. military earlier this month.
Off the coast of Singapore, underground industries come into public view.
The Singapore Strait is an important maritime shipping route connecting the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Approximately 100,000 ships pass through these waters each year, transporting approximately one-third of all goods traded worldwide.
The strait’s strategic location also makes it home to a shadow fleet linking Iran, Russia, Venezuela and China, one of the world’s largest importers of sanctioned oil.
Osman takes a seat in the front row.
“Singapore is probably the best place on earth to see (the shadow ship),” the 32-year-old said.
Ships over a certain size are required by international law to have Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracking devices turned on, but shadow ships can go dark to evade authorities. However, the Singapore Strait is so narrow that it is virtually impossible for ships to navigate safely without switching on location trackers.
The strait is also physically so close to Singapore, a densely populated city of about 6 million people, that Osman can see ships passing by and take photos and videos using just his iPhone.
Ship observers monitor sanctioned vessels in Singapore
Ship observers monitor sanctioned vessels in Singapore
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shadow fleet balloon
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions on Russian oil, the world’s shadow fleet has expanded. Although the ships’ deceptive tactics make them difficult to track, data analysis firm Kpler estimates that the global shadow fleet will consist of about 3,300 ships as of December 2025, representing about 6% to 7% of global oil flows.
The fleet is maintained through tactics such as divided ownership, rapid and repeated flag changes, manipulation of location data, and movement of cargo at night and in waters with minimal surveillance.
According to Kpler, more than $100 billion of crude oil will be moved through shadow and licensed fleets in 2025.
Osman’s niche hobby began when he moved to Singapore and was forced to quarantine for two weeks during the coronavirus pandemic. He spotted the ship from his hotel room balcony and began documenting its passage online.
It was about a year ago that Osman shifted his focus to Shadow Ships, after Osman noticed that viewers were interested in secret fleets. He says his page has exploded in recent months as the shadow fleet has captured the news cycle.
One of his Instagram videos posted last August has been viewed more than 2 million times.
Osman said there are several signs that the ship may be transporting illegal oil.
He uses ship-tracking apps to look for older ships (20 to 25 years old) operating under the flags of countries with less oversight, such as Guinea, Comoros, Gambia and Mozambique. Othman said ships sometimes openly fly Iranian or Russian flags without making any effort to conceal themselves.
When Osman finds a vessel that piques his interest, he looks up its registration number and cross-references it with a list of sanctioned vessels.
Osman said the location of the ship in the water can also give clues as to where it is heading. Ships higher up in the water likely don’t have as much oil on board, while ships in deeper water may have more.
Last week, the United States seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker Bela 1 in the North Atlantic Ocean after an 18-day manhunt that began when it evaded the U.S. Coast Guard as it headed to Venezuela to retrieve oil.
The Bela 1, which was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for transporting illegal Iranian oil, initially flew the Guyanese flag, but when the Americans took over the tail, the crew hastily painted the Russian flag on the tanker’s hull.
The United States has vowed to enforce an embargo on shadow fleet vessels illegally transporting oil, including by seizing vessels that evade sanctions.
Meanwhile, other countries are increasingly concerned about the security threat posed by large vessels concealing their presence in busy seaways.
In 2024, the UK launched a Call to Action calling on coastal, port and flag states to comply with the rules of the sea, gaining signatures from 50 countries.
The country’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the BBC this week that the UK was ready to work with its European partners to “tighten the crackdown” on the shadow fleet and adopt a “more proactive and robust approach”.
The fact that so many of these ships pass through the Singapore Strait is “purely a geographical issue,” said Jennifer Parker, a former naval officer and non-resident researcher at Australia’s Lowy Institute. This waterway is the fastest route for ships to sail between East Asia and the Middle East.
Parker said the strait would also serve as an ideal transit point between sanctioned oil producers and China.
The offshore waters of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are hotspots for blacklisted ship-to-ship transfers (STS) of crude oil, analysts said.
However, because the Singapore Strait is considered an international waterway, it does not fall under Singapore’s jurisdiction and authorities have limited options to intervene, Parker said. It is generally a violation of international law for a country other than the flag state to board a ship unless it can be proven that the flag is false, he added.
“Singapore may take action if these ships enter Singapore. However, if they transit an international strait, there is only so much Singapore can do,” Mr Parker said.
In a statement to CNN, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it was “closely monitoring vessel movements and activities related to the ‘black fleet’ within its jurisdiction” and reporting violations to the International Maritime Organization.
However, the MPA also acknowledged its limited ability to act under international law.
“The Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) is a strait used for international navigation and ships enjoy rights of transit passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” the MPA said. The Strait of Malacca, located between Indonesia and Malaysia, connects with the Strait of Singapore to the west.
“These straits form important global shipping lanes that must remain open to international navigation, and this right of passage cannot be suspended under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
On the day Mr. Osman spoke to CNN, he took a selfie video overlooking Singapore’s towering residential buildings and the blurred strait in the distance.
“I came to the roof to try to find an authorized Shadow Fleet tanker,” Osman said in the video. “The ship I am about to discover is called the Sahara. It currently sails under the Guinean flag and is a licensed ship.”
In another video shot using a camera with a zoom lens, Osman pointed out the Sahara desert peeking out from behind skyscrapers.
Maritime traffic data showed the Sahara desert passed through the strait on Wednesday. The Sahara Desert is under sanctions from the United States, Britain, Canada and Ukraine for its ties to Russia.
“It’s interesting to connect what’s happening in world affairs with what we see outside,” Osman said.
