Russia fakes old ships as new buildings. Now such a “zombie tanker” has been discovered off the German coast.
December 30, 2025, 07:11December 30, 2025, 07:11
A so-called “zombie tanker” from the Russian shadow fleet was apparently spotted for the first time off the German Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn. According to the “Kieler Nachrichten”, the “Tavian” passed there in mid-December. The ship is said to have been accompanied by two Russian destroyers and to have had 100,000 tons of crude oil from the Russian coastal town of Primorsk on board.
This aerial photo shows a tanker from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”: Now a “zombie tanker” has been spotted off Fehmarn.Image: keystone
“Zombie tankers” are old ships that are illegally given a new IMO registration number and are subsequently considered new. The “Tavian” is officially considered a new Chinese-made ship.
According to the naval magazine “Lloyd’s List”, the tanker is said to be 27 years old and was launched in 1998 as the “Nordmark”. Photo comparisons of the hull and structure should show this. The “Tavian” is said to be the 13th name of the same ship. The ship named “Tia” only disappeared in the Persian Gulf in September.
Actually, the number is only assigned once for each ship and remains until it is scrapped. However, according to “Lloyd’s List”, around a dozen old ships in the Russian shadow fleet have already been given new numbers. Due to the old year of construction, some of them are unlikely to meet current environmental requirements.
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