War on Terrorism (Politics)

[Mick Harper]

Most of Russian post-sanctions oil exports go out via their 'shadow fleet', elderly tankers patched up to 'do a job'. Five of them have been subject to explosions in 2025 (so far). Which is about five more than would be expected, actuarially speaking.

So we can be reasonably confident it is Ukrainian special forces sticking time-controlled limpet mines on to their hulls (or in their engine rooms) during the considerable number of slowdowns/ stopovers necessary to get Russian tankers to anywhere in the world outside Russia.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Disagree, the likely cause is surely that these ships are old, nearing or exceeding their natural lifespans, not routinely repaired and inspected, not insured, nobody is able to track them and so on. Russia bought and repurposed lots of ageing tankers and hid them through shell companies and flags of convenience to avoid sanctions.

The two tankers that went down in the Kerch Strait in December 24 were over 55 years old. One tanker split in half. Ukraine complained.

https://united24media.com/latest-news/russian-tankers-sink-in-kerch-strait-after-violating-safety-and-navigation-rules-4480

[Mick Harper]

Don't forget to send me a list of all countries that have their tankers blow up once a month. For comparative purposes, you understand.

PS The Kerch tankers were not included in my list.