The European Commission has proposed an amendment to Annex I of the Directive on Maritime Traffic Monitoring (2002/59/EC), which requires all vessels, including those simply transiting through European Union waters without entering a community port, to provide proof of insurance.
According to a Commission statement, “this amendment strengthens the monitoring of uninsured or unsafe vessels, supports safety and environmental goals, and aligns EU regulations with global standards in a context of growing threats from hazardous cargo and geopolitical instability.”
By the end of last year, over 1,000 vessels were affected by EU sanctions, and data from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows that more than 800 of these vessels lacked confirmed insurance. Additionally, the average age of the sanctioned vessels (21 years) is about eight years above the global average, which raises concerns about the potential for environmental disasters.
This measure is part of a broader effort by various European countries to control ships from the so-called “Russian phantom fleet.”
Since February, the Danish Maritime Authority has been carrying out port state controls on high-risk tankers anchored off Skagen, in the northernmost part of the country, a highly trafficked anchorage.
Also this year, the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) activated an advanced response system led by the United Kingdom to track potential threats to underwater infrastructure and monitor vessels from the “phantom fleet.” The JEF is a multinational European military partnership led by the UK. Along the same lines, the naval operation called Nordic Warden uses AI to analyze data from various sources, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) that vessels use to transmit their position, to assess the risk posed by each vessel entering areas of interest.