Analysis
Russia Increases Arctic Oil Exports via Dark STS Transfers in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)
Russia conducted two dark ship-to-ship transfers in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on September 7, involving tankers Jagger and Mirabel that transited the Northern Sea Route. Satellite analytics company SynMax detected the operations farther south than Nakhodka Bay, with receiving vessels Navistar and Lumin operating without AIS signals. Shadow tankers now account for 62% of Russian crude exports, with seven vessels carrying about 6 million barrels through the Arctic route by early August, nearly half the 2025 annual volume.
