Picture this: A Greek shipowner gets a call from a Russian trader. “Double your usual fee to haul oil from Russia to India. No questions.” The tanker—flagged in Panama, insured by a Dubai firm—loads up, sails the high seas, maybe swaps cargo mid-ocean with another vessel, and delivers to a refinery in Mumbai. Everyone gets paid. The oil? It funds Russia’s budget. The “shadow”? Just paperwork tricks to avoid Western trackers.That’s it. No eye patches, no cannon fire. Just 600+ tankers moving 3.5 million barrels a day—80% of Russia’s seaborne exports—to buyers in Asia who don’t care about G7 price caps. Sanctions make it profitable; the sea’s old rules make it possible.Why the “Pirate” Label Doesn’t Stick: A Bulletproof Legal BreakdownWestern headlines scream “dangerous dark fleet,” but international law says otherwise. This isn’t rogue statecraft; it’s private enterprise navigating freedoms baked into treaties for 400+ years. Below, every claim ties back to primary sources—UN docs, conventions, and cases. (Pro tip for YouTube fact-checkers: Ctrl+F the article numbers; they’re verbatim.)
