Sanctioned Russian vessels have entered British waters at least once a day since the government brought in measures to tackle the shadow fleet in March, but none have been intercepted, a government minister has admitted.
Concern has been growing about repeated incursions into waters around the UK, with a Russian attack submarine and two spy submersibles tracked over critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic for several weeks.
The National Security Strategy (Joint Committee) questioned members of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) on Monday to follow up on a review in September that claimed the government was “too timid” in protecting undersea cables from state actors.
The MoD announced new powers in March for armed forces to board sanctioned boats crossing into British waters as part of measures to tackle the flow and power of Russia’s shadow fleet vessels.
Liberal Democrats MP Mike Martin, questioning the minister for armed forces Alistair Carns, said that 63 sanctioned Russian vessels had crossed through British waters since the new measures had been put in place.
“In March … the government declared that it was going to be rolling out this programme to try and tackle the Russian shadow fleet, and since then… 63 sanctioned Russian vessels have transited UK territorial waters.”
“That’s one a day,” he said. “To my knowledge, we haven’t interdicted any of them. Is that correct?”
Mr Carns did not dispute the figure as he responded: “Yeah, so what I would say… We haven’t interdicted them. What I would say, each sanctioned vessel has its own parameters.”
The government has sanctioned 544 Russian shadow fleet vessels, which Mr Carns claimed each one has “its different legal and policy parameters, depending on where it’s flagged, depending on UNCLOS, depending on what waters it’s in.”
The minister said he had spoken to lawyers almost every time a ship had been flagged in British waters and “if the opportunity presents itself and the parameters are met from a legal, policy, and operational perspective, we will board the vessel”.
The number of sanctioned vessels referred to by Mr Martin, a former Army officer, is far lower than recent estimations from the BBC, which reported 184 sanctioned ships crossing British waters between 25 March – when legislation was announced – and 3pm BST on 11 May, according to MarineTraffic data.
The i reported in April that more than 120 sanctioned tankers had crossed British waters since the new powers were brought in.
Brussels seized an oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet in March suspected of sailing with a “false flag and false documents”. The vessel named ETHERA, under a Guinea flag, has been held at Zeebrugge port in Belgium ever since.
As part of the MoD’s efforts in tackling Russia’s hybrid warfare, defence secretary Sir John Healey confirmed last month that the UK and allies had tracked a Russian attack submarine and two spy submersibles loitering over critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic for a month before they retreated.
RAF crews flew more than 50 missions using P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft in the operation that involved 500 British personnel and support from allies.
Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have accused the government of inaction and urged it to act more decisively on Russia’s surveillance tactics.
Shadow defence minister David Reed said last month it was “clear the government is not moving fast enough to deter our adversaries”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The UK is disrupting and deterring shadow fleet vessels and their harmful maritime activity, and since October 2024, we have challenged over 700 suspected shadow fleet vessels.
“We will not comment on specific operational planning or give a running commentary, as this could compromise our ability to successfully take action against these ships, only benefitting our adversaries.
“Any target ship will be individually considered by law enforcement, military and energy market specialists before an operation is executed.”