In the framework of permanent cooperation with the United Nations bodies and officials, our association sent a submission to the UN Human Rights Council’s Advisory Committee for the development of concrete guidelines on implementing existing procedural and substantive human rights obligations of states in the context of preventing and combating corruption.
This submission, prepared by Anna Prykhodko, Eduard Pleshko, and other experts and published at the official UN web-sources now, reminds us of threats and challenges to maritime security, safety, and environment, including waters adjacent to the Russia-occupied Crimea, caused by illegal activities of Russia’s shadow tanker fleet, including the relevant corruption challenges.
The ARC submission stressed that the corruption in the global maritime industry and in some state maritime administrations allows Russia’s shadow tanker fleet to continue its illegal activities contrary to maritime safety, security, environment, and seafarers’ rights.
Special attention was paid in the ARC submission to the issues of the frauds of Russia-controlled structures with flag policies and P&I insurance systems that make great challenges to global shipping, especially in conditions of interstate conflicts.
As an example, we described the usage of the fake “insurance certificates” from the allegedly German company “Seaguard P&I”, with deep roots of its de-facto managers in Syrian Tartous with relevant illegal shipping to the occupied Sevastopol.
We stressed that it is obvious that the fake and corrupted “insurance” of a tanker makes all subsequent documents issued for the vessel, both technical and commercial, at least dubious.
It is also obvious that the imitation of the “insurance” of a tanker grossly violates the requirements of the MARPOL convention, in terms of the lack of coverage of the risks of marine pollution by oil, and grossly violates the demands of the MLC convention, in the format of failure to provide insurance for accidents and other challenges for crew members.
So, as we stressed in our submission, we asked in April, 2026 officially authorized international maritime structures, as well as all German, Greek, and Cypriot bodies and officials whom it concerns, to take this information into account for all their current activities and start relevant investigations.
German anticorruption bodies were informed by us on those issues also, but the next relevant reaction to the relevant corruption around Russia’s shadow tanker fleet was not noticed by us. So the corruption in the area of tolerating the crimes of the Russian shadow fleet is a strong danger for global safety and security, and our counter to those processes will be continued.
