By Ishtwan Kamel
22/04/2025
The Sea Remembers Everything. Even the ships which trying to disappear. RIGEL and CHANDRA are some of the shadow fleet tankers helping Russia circumvent sanctions and make millions from the war. By changing names, flags, and turning off trackers, it remains invisible to regulators—but not to reality. Its cargo is oil that turns into missiles and drones.
The RIGEL a huge tanker transporting Russian oil. It can change its name flag and even disappear from Radars but its traces in the global economy is clear. This vessel is part of the Shadow Fleet that finances the war. It carries 146,000 tons of oil on board and these are millions of dollars that eventually turn into missiles and drones.
But how does the shadow team work from 2023 to 2025. RIGEL changed its name twice and its flag three times. Today it sails under the Panamanian Flag and yesterday under the Israeli flag and tomorrow probably another new registration. This is a classic scheme of evading sanctions but the most interesting thing is not even that who is the owner. The answer is unknown official documents lead to a dead end where the ultimate beneficiary is hidden behind shell companies.
Another important point is the lack of insurance: if this vessel causes an environmental disaster no one will be held accountable so when does oil become a weapon you can compare the routes of the RIGEL with the dates of Russian attacks on Ukraine. On January 21st 2024 the tanker is loaded in Primos, on January 22nd a missile strike on Kyiv with the casualties among civilians. April 17th 2024 departure from a Russian Port, April 18th shelling of Odesa region. July 5th 2024 new loading in Novorosiysk in Russia, July 6th – massive strike on Kyiv. These dates are not just coincidence. They form a pattern that each voyage of the RIGEL is a new batch of money flowing into the Russian military budget. An invisible Fleet and a danger to the world in order to avoid control. The RIGEL manipulates with an automatic identification system – in simple terms it disappears in time of need. That means nobody knows where it actually is.
The SPRITE tanker is part of the shadow fleet that helps Russia evade sanctions and sell oil, which finances the war. Changed names, shell companies, and disappearing from radar—this is just part of the scheme. It’s possible to track its route and found a connection between oil sales and missile strikes on Ukraine. How can this be stopped?
The shadow tanker SPRITE has become a Haven for a Shadow Fleet tankers that hide their routes, change names and flags but their goal is the same – to supply money to Russia’s military budget. One of them is SPRITE. On its board 306 tons of crude oil and these are hundreds of millions of dollars that will eventually turn into missiles and drones flying into peaceful cities.
Russia’s Shadow Fleet is not just a violation of sanctions it is an oil that turns into rocket. CHANDRA tanker is another participant in Moscow’s illegal game. It has 37,000 tons and these thousands of tons of oil pay for air strikes in Ukrainian cities. This ship has been changing masks for seven years three different names. From 2019 to 2025 it changed three times flags. Anonymous owner lack of insurance these are classic methods of Russian Shadow Fleet but the main thing is its routes. After exploration CHANDRA’S comes in ports and compared them with events in Ukraine you can find connection with the tanker and war.
On 16th January 2024 CHANDRA was loaded in the Russian port, on 17th January was the massive missiles strike on civilians. There were 28 killed. 28 April 2024 CHANDRA leaves Russian port, on April 29th Russian Calibres attacked Odessa. 5th July 2024 another exit of a tanker with Russian oil, 6th of July deeper shelling bow dozens of wounded. This isn’t simply coincidence, this is the financing of Terror.
Smuggling and illegal oil transportation is a potential environmental disaster. The Shadow Fleet is not just evasion, it’s an oil that becomes money and these money become rockets which destroy Ukrainian cities. If these schemes do not stop today tomorrow the next tanker under a fake flag will finance the next blow to peaceful people. Russia keep on use oil as weapons and right now it is time to make this weapon in vain.