Netherlands allegedly fails to inspect Russian "shadow fleet" vessels
Russian shadow fleet vessels allegedly continue to sail through Dutch waters without inspection, even as seven European countries actively monitor them, government sources told de Volkskrant .
Since January, the Tweede Kamer has called for inspections up to 393 kilometers off the coast, citing risks to critical infrastructure and the environment. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure says legal and practical constraints prevent inspections, though experts say voluntary checks are allowed.
Jan Paternotte (D66), who pushed the motion, criticized the slow response: “On the one hand, the cabinet acknowledges that our safety is at risk from Russian hybrid warfare and that the shadow fleet continues to fund Russia’s war effort. On the other hand, it has spent eight months investigating how to conduct inspections. The cabinet claims it wants to act, but either it doesn’t see it as important enough or it simply doesn’t want to act.”
Other European nations, including Norway, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Estonia, and Finland, have begun or long conducted checks requiring crews to present insurance documentation. The fleet, which allegedly transports Russian crude under false or lax flags, poses environmental and security risks.
Experts warn that the Dutch EEZ’s distance from shore and heavy monitoring requirements make inspections logistically challenging. Still, the government says it is “examining ways to strengthen controls against the Russian shadow fleet in Dutch waters.”
In January, NOS reported that the Dutch Navy had increasingly escorted suspicious Russian ships in the North Sea. The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the number of escorted ships had doubled in the previous year, from 11 Russian vessels in 2023 to 20 in 2024.
In 2023, Russian spy ships have also been reported hiding off the Dutch coast near gas pipelines, data cables, and wind farms, according to the investigative journalism platform Pointer. The platform identified the vessels as the research ships Admiral Vladimirsky and Yevgeny Gorigledzhan.
