Falsely flagged vessels up 22%, reports Windward
In Q3 2025, sanctions, tariffs, and trade wars have amplified risk across global shipping, splitting trading fleets and shattering records for deceptive vessel practices, reports maritime security specialist Windward.
The maritime sector now sits at the frontline of an unprecedented foreign policy experiment. One that has fueled flag-hopping, GNSS manipulation, and other deceptive behaviours to new extremes.
A stateless fleet of tankers and gas carriers, operating beyond the reach of international law, has emerged as a critical maritime safety and security threat. European intelligence even reported shadow fleet tankers being used for drone reconnaissance in the Baltic.
The number of falsely flagged ships has doubled in the past nine months, driven by record sanctions from the EU, UK, and U.S. since 2023 — and this quarter, surpassing 1,000 vessels for the first time.
Geopolitical exposure is increasingly difficult to gauge as regulators expand their focus to include enablers of sanctions circumvention, amid widening policy gaps between the EU, UK, and U.S.
For the second consecutive quarter, the U.S. imposed no new sanctions on Russian shipping, instead intensifying its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran.
Meanwhile, the EU and UK jointly lowered the G7 oil price cap on Russia by 15% in September. From January, the EU’s ban on petroleum products refined from Russian crude — aimed at curbing ‘laundering’ via India and Turkey — will redirect an estimated 200,000 bpd of gasoline and reshape global clean oil trades. Similar restrictions are under consideration elsewhere.
U.S.–China trade tensions have further disrupted supply chains, triggering counter-seasonal trade flows and the repositioning of global fleets ahead of the October 14 imposition of U.S. port tariffs on Chinese-built, owned, or operated vessels.
China’s retaliatory port tariffs on U.S. ships add a new layer of volatility for dry bulk and tanker markets, and fresh uncertainty for U.S.-listed shipowners.