The Singapore Strait, a major global transit route with about 100,000 ships per year, serves as a visible, high‑risk corridor for shadow fleets moving sanctioned oil to China, and no single country can intervene easily in international waters.

Osman’s reporting has gone viral, including an August Instagram video that drew more than two million views, underscoring public interest in how geopolitics intersects with visible shipping traffic.

Observers emphasize the strait’s strategic role as a transit point and stopover for ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned oil, which complicates enforcement and accountability for shadow fleets.

Even in international waters, vessels sometimes reveal cargo indicators like depth and AIS status; shadow ships may switch off trackers to evade detection, though the Singapore Strait’s proximity increases the risk of exposure.

The United States has stepped up enforcement against shadow fleets, including seizing five sanctioned vessels in early January 2026 as part of a broader campaign against sanctioned oil exports.

Analysts identify likely illicit carriers by age (roughly 20–25 years), flags with lax oversight (such as Guinea, Comoros, the Gambia, Mozambique), and sometimes explicit Iran or Russia affiliations, cross‑checking registration numbers against sanctioned-ship lists.

Since Russia’s invasion and the resulting sanctions, the global shadow fleet has grown to about 3,300 vessels—roughly 6–7% of global crude flows—moving over $100 billion in crude oil in 2025, per Kpler.

Shadow fleets—also called ghost or dark fleets—traffic oil for sanctioned nations like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, helping finance geopolitical conflicts such as Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Remy Osman, a British expatriate in Singapore, monitors illicit oil tankers from his rooftop and shares findings with a growing online audience.

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority notes ongoing monitoring but stresses limited capacity to intervene in international waters, citing UNCLOS protections for transit passage through international straits.