The Group of Seven democracies has sought to crimp Russia’s oil export earnings that help fund the war against Ukraine. But Western governments and sanctions experts say Moscow has resorted to using a so-called shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging sanctions and keeping the oil revenue coming. Here are things to know about the shadow fleet — and why it worries Western governments and environmental groups: What is the shadow fleet? The shadow fleet is made up of aging tankers bought used, often by nontransparent entities with addresses in non-sanctioning countries such as the United Arab Emirates or the Marshall Islands, and flagged in places like Gabon or the Cook Islands. Some of the vessels are owned by the Russian state Sovcomflot shipping company. Their role is to help Russia’s oil exporters elude the $60 per barrel price cap imposed by Ukraine’s allies. Estimates vary, but S&P Global and the Kyiv School of Economics Institute have put the number at over 400 ships that can transport oil, or products made from crude such as diesel fuel and gasoline. The shadow fleet in fact isn’t all that shadowy. The ships don’t hide their stops at Russian oil terminals. Some have direct connections to Russia, as with the vessels owned by Sovcomflot. In other cases, it’s often unclear who exactly is behind the listed owners, and what kind of safety practices and insurance the vessels have. What sets them apart is that they transport Russian oil and operate outside the jurisdictions of the sanctioning G7 countries. The Kremlin has so far dodged commenting on the shadow fleet. What is the price cap? The cap is aimed at limiting Russia’s profits while keeping the oil flowing to global markets and avoiding an energy crunch that would drive up gasoline prices and inflation. The cap, which went into effect on Dec. 5, 2022, is enforced by barring service providers such as insurers and shipping managers from dealing with oil priced above the threshold. Those companies are mostly based in Western countries and thus within reach of sanctions enforcement. That leverages the strict requirements from the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization that vessels must have financially solid insurance backed up by reputable audits in order to operate. That insurance has traditionally been provided by a network of Western-based industry insurers known as the International Group, or IG. When the cap was first imposed, some 70% of Russian oil was transported on vessels with IG insurance, but that share has now fallen to 10%, according to the Kyiv School of Economics. How does the shadow fleet evade the price cap? The vessels are bought used and owned by opaque entities located in places like the United Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, India or Vietnam that aren’t taking part in sanctions. The new owners use new insurers in Russia or other non-Western locations. So is the cap completely ineffective? No. The U.S., UK and EU in combination or individually have imposed sanctions on some 270 vessels they consider to be trading Russian oil in violation of the cap. Once they do that, transactions involving that ship or its cargo can bring trouble for customers, traders and banks. That’s especially true for American sanctions as getting caught violating them can then disrupt any business ties […]