The ‘Code Name’ Podcast: On board the ghost fleet
The first episode of *Nome in Codice*, the podcast from 24Ore NextMed and Radio24 that brings you stories, technologies and intrigues from the dark side of international politics, boards the Russian shadow fleet and attempts to understand what lies beneath these rust buckets. What are they carrying on board, and what are they hiding beneath the apparent rust? Listen.
by 24Ore NextMed
On 27 September 2025, off the coast of the Loire-Atlantique, French special forces boarded the Boracay, an oil tanker accused of being part of the Russian ‘ghost fleet’. But what exactly is the ‘ghost fleet’? Why is it also active in the Mediterranean, given that a few months later, off the Balearic Islands, France boarded the Deyna, another Russian ‘ghost ship’? Is it true that, as well as circumventing oil sanctions, Russia has started using it for operations and acts of sabotage? Why were there two former members of the Russian special forces on board the Boracay? And why did its route coincide with sightings of mysterious drones that paralysed several European airports? The first episode of *Nome in Codice*, the podcast from 24Ore NextMed and Radio24 that brings you stories, technologies and intrigues from the dark side of international politics, boards the Russian ghost fleet and attempts to unravel the mystery. It attempts to understand what lies beneath these rust buckets. What they carry on board and what they hide behind the apparent rust. We’re not talking about isolated incidents. The Deyna case is the fourth such boarding carried out by France alone in just a few months, sometimes acting alone, sometimes in collaboration with the navies of other countries. These types of vessels pose various threats to international security, and their presence in Mediterranean waters is no coincidence. Gas and oil represent only the tip of the iceberg. Together with former special forces captain Louis Saillans and Alessio Patalano, a lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London, the authors of *Code Name* map out a comprehensive overview of the risks and threats. Together with Luciano Belviso, CEO of Mirai – the start-up specialising in data and intelligence on the high seas – they attempt to provide a technological response to the covert activities of the ‘ghost fleet’.
Russia has been subject to sanctions ever since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. To circumvent these sanctions and continue exporting oil and gas without being subject to the prices imposed by the G7 countries and the European Union, Moscow has built up a fleet of ghost ships, which officially cannot be traced back to Russia but are in fact directly controlled by the security services and state-owned companies. Altered names, flags of convenience, anonymous ownership, forged documents. All these manoeuvres serve to throw checks off the scent, secretly transfer oil from one ship to another without going through port procedures, and then deliver it to colluding companies or complacent states, willing to purchase it at prices slightly above the sanctioned levels in exchange for a steady supply and preferential treatment to sustain the Russian war effort despite the sanctions. But it is by scratching beneath the surface that the true danger is revealed: namely, the militarisation of the fleet. The answer is that the ghost fleet is now engaged in hybrid warfare and carrying out sabotage against our communications infrastructure or pipelines, which can have a direct impact on freedom of navigation, maritime trade, and therefore on the wallets of unsuspecting citizens.
