Russian oil tankers sanctioned by Britain continue to move along the southern coast of England in the same number as before British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the permission for the country's military to seize sanctioned ships that Russia uses to export oil.
On March 25, Prime Minister Starmer announced the permission for the military to board and arrest Russian ships to prevent Moscow from benefiting from rising oil prices due to the Iran conflict.
At that time, British officials said that the military was preparing to board ships to inspect violations of sanctions and the government hoped that this policy would force ships to take longer routes, away from British waters.
Russia called this an "extremely hostile act" and warned that it could take retaliatory measures.
However, since the announcement, the British military has not announced the inspection of any Russian ships. Data shows that during that time, at least 25 sanctioned ships continued to enter British waters when moving through the English Channel as before.
Former British Navy officer James Fennell believes that the British military is likely to only selectively target Russian ships, due to the complex nature of the operation, the risk of legal action and the risk of pushing Britain closer to confrontation with Russia.
The government hopes the threat will have a deterrent effect and will assess the effectiveness before carrying out a potentially risky boarding operation. The government will also use backstage channels to ask Russia to stop" - he said.
The British Ministry of Defense said that all enforcement actions will be considered in each case and will not make continuous comments on potential actions.
Russian ships in the "dark fleet" often pass through the English Channel because this is the most convenient route connecting the Baltic Sea with Southern Europe and elsewhere.
In recent months, some other European countries such as France, Belgium and Sweden have boarded and seized ships to disrupt Russia's "dark fleet" network.
In March, the US temporarily eased some sanctions against Russian oil in an effort to curb energy prices.
Britain is imposing sanctions on 544 ships of Russia's "dark fleet", meaning these ships are banned from entering British ports and may be arrested.
Maritime data company Pole Star Global said that on average every week since the beginning of the year, about 20 ships of this fleet have passed through British waters.
Professor Douglas Guilfoyle, a maritime security expert at the University of New South Wales (Australia), said that despite sanctions, Britain still has to rely on unverified legal arguments to be able to board.
According to him, there are only 2 clear legal bases for detaining the ship: One is the sanctions mechanism of the United Nations Security Council (which does not currently exist in this case), and two is considering the detention as a "countermeasure" to the Russia-Ukraine conflict - a "new and unproven" legal argument.
There are very few exceptions that can justify interfering in the transit rights or harmless passage rights of foreign ships, even if those ships are subject to UK sanctions," he said.
