- Draft Declaration Aims to Strengthen Legal Basis for Vessel Inspections.
- Kaja Kallas Accuses Shadow Fleet of Funding Russia’s War.
- Ministers Discuss More Robust Response at EEAS Meeting.
EU ministers have been in talks about giving member states more authority to board shadow fleet tankers. This move is part of a broader effort to ramp up the EU’s response to Moscow and its ongoing war in Ukraine. Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, mentioned that the ministers are considering a more robust response, which could include boarding shadow fleet tankers, reports Lloyd’s List.
Draft Declaration to Strengthen Legal Basis for Boardings
A background paper prepared for the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, which Lloyd’s List reviewed, reveals that the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic body, has started discussions with other EU organisations about a draft declaration aimed at reinforcing the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. This document suggests that the declaration would give member states a legal basis to board shadow fleet vessels. It also proposes creating bilateral agreements with flag states to authorise boarding and inspections in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Kallas Accuses Shadow Fleet of Funding Russia’s War
Kallas accused the shadow fleet of “financing Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as acting as a ‘launch pad for hybrid attacks’.”
She added that EU ministers “discussed a more robust response, including more powers to board shadow fleet vessels” during a recent EEAS meeting, for which the background paper had been drafted.
Experts Question Practical and Legal Feasibility
Despite these discussions, maritime law experts have voiced concerns about the practical aspects of such actions. Ian Ralby, the chief executive of IR Consilium, raised doubts about whether the EU has fully thought through the consequences of boarding a vessel.
“My question for [the EU], and this is part of the problem with maritime law enforcement, is: ‘and then what?’”Ralby said. “Even if you get on board, you still have to have some kind of legal cause of action to do something thereafter. And so if you’re just boarding, looking around, and then getting back off, because you do not have a legal basis for taking any kind of action, you are potentially running the risk of opening the door to claims that you were just interrupting the freedom of navigation, and that is a dangerous precedent to set, even if it is well intentioned,” he told Lloyd’s List.
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Source: Lloyd’s List
