Russia goes a step further with the addition of a shell game. Which ship is carrying the marble? All of this pumping of oil from ship to ship and yet, they are still making money off that oil.
After watching this video, I open vesselfinder, search gabon flag ships. List of ships show up, I choose 1, named nikolay zuyev. A crude oil tanker, last trip was from Kozmino-Russia to Tianjin-China.
@@BlondBeast they were still in place before the failed test and latest round of nuclear Sabre rattling also. So idk if it makes any sense to say that the restrictions are in place because of this latest peacocking.
@@SeptikAvenger idk that I agree! It’s obvious they wanted to show their off their nuclear prowess right before making another nuclear threat. These test weren’t intended as purely functional testing, but as a demonstration of power.
That's a good question because as Gabonese It's a news for me. Our government just bought back a Big oil British company with a lot of asset in the country which has more than double our oil production. Which can explain the growing number of registration of cargo ships. We import and export quite a lot oil for a country our size. These rumors appeared a few months ago and that's what they are. Rumors. I've yet to see any proof of these allegations online. It could be true and false. Who knows...
Gabon has no intentionsof feeding a conflict between slavic brethren and neither will this peaceful and friendly land stick its nose into an onternalI and family feud as its people's Bantu culture profits it. The people that have neversyopped buying gas durectjy from.Russia and and oil from other locations ever since the conflict eruoted have the guts to drag Gabon in the mud. So are they convinced Gabonese people are still living in the 16th century, therefore unanle to know what has been going on around the world. Aren''t they?
Everyone runs shadow fleets. That's why when you hear about a ship on the news they always describe it in 2 parts. For example "a German vessel under a Solomon islands flag"
Lol, you missed the point. Watch the video. What you refer to are called "flags of convenience". They do follow international law, and do trade in the open. More than half of the world's trade is shipped under flags of convenience. You may criticize them for operating under bad working conditions and evading taxes, but that's not meant with the term "shadow fleet". The term "shadow fleet" means vessels that smuggle sanctioned goods, breaking international law, and operating outside the oversights by the ports and by the insurance system. Smuggling has always existed of course, but Russia has dramatically increased the size of the shadow fleet in recent years.
@@douglasbillington8521 It's not complicated at all. You can't sanction a country, and then openly trade with that country with the sanctioned goods. I suppose that's one way to give yourself a discount, but it's very hypocritical. Not everyone in the world is ready to jump every time the EU or US does a jump scare. They poo-poo India for buying Russian oil, but can't turn off their own taps.
@@joshuafrimpong244 so idk where my last comment went it wasn’t offensive. Anyway I’ll reiterate, no one thought the sanctions were just gonna make a country disappear. So being like “they aren’t working we still on the map!” makes you sound a little air headed.
@@joshuafrimpong244 and idk if that’s true either really. Sanctions are a penal measure pure and simple. They are meant to degrade a country in one way or another.
@@skylineXpert I wonder how long it'll be before my feed is flooded with "sanctioned governments don't want you to know this one simple trick" or "5 easy ways for warmongers to skirt sanctions"
@SchmidtyProductions27 No they don't, since WW2 Japanese PMs hav been chosen by the US, their constitution is literally made to benefit the US by making it a docile satellite
Honestly, I find all this 'covert' language rediculous. Bullshit that the ownership of these ships are 'murky' - law enforcement is just lazy. If your ship doesn't have good documentation, port authorities should seize your vessel and it's cargo, and sell it off. Suddenly, a lot of companies and governments will stop fucking around and register their vessels properly.
More likely corrupt than lazy. Asking for a fee to ignore the ship's paperwork just so the law enforcers can afford food might be more common than we think.
I think the Houthi situation exposed that 95% of legitimate shipping is murky for financial/liability reasons. Theyd hit a supposed Israeli owned ship that's Panama registered, owned by a Cayman Islands shell company, but the owner isn't the operator and the operator has subleased it to a Swiss investment group who procured a short term contract on behalf of blah blah blah. The channel What's Going On With Shipping went into a few of these and despite knowing all about shipping he struggled to actually ascertain who owned/operated some of those vessels.
Ports are free to deny entry to ships if the paper work isn't in accordance with their local standards. But ships can't stop civilian and military ships that are outside the 12 mile territory, it is called "Freedom of Navigation" the Americans are experts at this, just ask China.
0:10 I had to turn on captions because I kept hearing “a secretive pack of shit” even after listening to it multiple times. Granted I have a massive headache and took my sleeping pills already. *it would have been quite funny if what I heard ended up being what Simon had said.
Is it ? France despite all its flaws contributed hugely positively to the infrastructure and development of those countries (for purely selfish reasons of course as their companies are operating in country but still). Russia is playing the corruption game with the countries leaders
@@neilhillis9858 The only pathetic thing here is your comment. Why wouldnt you like a more well rounded view? I dont understand why people prefer to live in a full media eco chamber that only covers what they want to hear.
As a coastal Swede: Wait you fucking what? The Russians parked a fleet on my literal god damn doorstep? And recently, at that? I mean I know I don't always know or care what's going on around me, but a whole damn fleet I would have thought I'd notice. Evidently it wasn't terribly intimidating..?
Well at the end of the day, they're shipping vessels. They're intimidating by size alone is all, and they can't ship much if they're busy parading around coastal waters so they probably didn,t stay long. I imagine it was more a taunt than anything.
@@johnyoung4163 The Swedes have decided to be on the wrong side of history as has most or Europe. Perhaps it is what Zhukov said at the ene of the Second World War. "They will never forgive us for freeing them from the Nazis".
The Russian central bank basically announced the country is in stagflation territory, i e., they can't use interest rates as a lever. A desperate country is not a good thing.
But after war it will considering he's sitting in a very valuable land which would not only benefitted him but also solved many of his problem like fertility crisis and shortage of labor workforce.
I mean, a country as tiny and as harshly isolated like North Korea still exist after more than 70 years..... How NK still can run their tanks? How they obtain the oil, even far before Russia became a pariah? Russia can't survive? Russia are larger, more powerful and they have lessons from many other pariah states experience.
Okay... But NK is literally a century behind on the rest of the world ... Run by a 'god' and Iran also "religious" fanatics... I mean... Kinda proves it does damage as it sends you literally back to atleast the middle ages mentality wise.
I don't see why Denmark isn't inspecting these vessels for all the problems you mention. Just keep them queued up for inspection for a couple of months and see what that does to Russia's oil trade.
As always Gabon is helping Russia "circumvent" sanctions. It is as if Africans are always expected to follow the US/European lead. Why should a country comply with directives issue by foreign governments. There is nothing illegal in what Gabon has done how do you circumvent a law that doesn't apply to your country.
Yes, no doubt. It's not even a quarter century since the UK surree3ndered its balls and join the US in an illegal invasion & occupation. They set the precedent, but they get mad when others use it.
@@cyberfunk3793 Post WW2 geopolitics told me that. The period after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact told me that. Also Kosovo and pretty much all the Baltic states.
Their not breaking any law so stopping them would be privacy. All they are doing is circumnavigating sanctions and preventing nations suffering secondary sanctions
@@baileygregory9192 Yeah, and telling a group of people the expected route of a ship isn't breaking any laws either. What that group of people do with that information is up to them.
@CocoHutzpah if those groups are criminal organisations it is. Plus that's a game nobody wants to start playing as the other side can do the same just as easily
@CocoHutzpah yeah it's not illegal just a dumb strategy as your just empowing pirates to do the same to you and you'll just get russia telling them we're western shipping will be. Also you are aware russia has the same capability to protect its shipping of the horn of africa and Indonesian waters (the two big piracy spots) as much as the west. The baltic and Pacific fleet make up the balk of russia fleet. Not to mention nations like India would happily support them if the stuff is heading to them (if not militarily, diplomaticaly)
Since around 2010-2011 - after Shell found those huge gs depisuts in the Donbas - the Russians set out to capture the energy sector of the world economy. This can also be see in the BRICS alliance, but it is falling apart because Russia cannot sustain this war economy for longer than another year - military budget now 40% of total budget, which is the breaking point of all past fascist regimes.
I think that you should follow the sequence of events which led to Russia taking the Donbass. And if you want fascists, look at the Nazis controlling the Ukrainian state machine, The Russian economy is doing fine, unlike Europe which is brown-nosing the US defence industry.
i mean when there's war in Africa no one cares, Europe gets war, everyone's sending help..... i really dont expect gabon to care, they could roll out a list of crap that has gotten done to them by working with western europe
Seems to me that a lot of this could have been avoided and stopped outright save for the lack of will to do so. Ships sailing from both St Petersburg and the Black Sea have to sail right through EU and NATO waters so if both of these entities found the guts and the motivation to stop, search and ultimately seize all illegal ships passing through, that would put a swift end to the bulk of this activity. But then, that would require a great deal of the two attributes the west has lacked since this affair began.... Guts and resolve.
They can't do it because nothing makes these ships illegal under international law. Other than violating sactions (what isn't a crime) they aren't violating any law and they have freedom of navigation. It would be hypocracy to do freedom of navigation exercises in strait of Taiwan whilst also bloking freedom in the baltic
@@baileygregory9192 I don't buy that; not for a moment. There are ways to do it. If you want to do it badly enough, and you're creative enough, there are always methods which can be used. Even if it can't be stopped entirely, it can be severely reduced. Throwing up our hands and saying "there's nothing we can do!" is a large part of the reason we're in these messes with Russia, China, Iran et al to begin with. What's really being said is "there's nothing easy we can do and we can't be bothered doing the hard work because we might step on a few toes or lose a vote or two."
@hughjass1044 OK pls tell me what we can do what is in line with international law. Unless your proposing piracy or stopping lawful vessels in the open seas
@@baileygregory9192 Well, for starters, I'll point out a couple of errors in what you said originally. These ships are in fact, illegal in the way they're operating; most notably by turning off their transponders. That is a safety violation and can be treated as such. And violating sanctions is illegal if those violating them are from the same jurisdiction as the one levying them, or has a treaty of some sort with them. But more broadly, there are other ways this can be stopped. The waters these vessels sail through are in some cases, the territorial waters of sovereign nations; some of them EU, NATO, or even both. The Skagerrak, the English Channel and the Turkish Straits, for example. They are NOT international waters. It's simply a matter that there are agreements in place to allow for free movement of ships through them to get to and from where they're going. Rescind or modify those agreements. It's been done before, it can be done again. All that's required is the balls to do it. Secondly, you can go after any or all of three parties - those loading the ships, those who own and sail them, and those who receive the shipments. Not many people know for example, that countries such as Spain, Portugal and even Turkey are buying this oil on the spot market for cheap while still pretending to oppose Russia. You simply tell these countries that we know full well what you're up to you can continue to do business with Russia or you can do business with the US, the EU or whatever but it will not be both. These are only some of the measures which can be taken. They're just a few examples. There are many others. None of them are easy, none of them are pain free and none of them do not risk ruffling a few feathers but what it comes down to is this... You want Russia stopped... or you don't. If you do, you'll do what's necessary to get the job done. If you don't, you'll just sit back, wring your hands and make excuses.
@hughjass1044 none of these ships are violating sanctions tho. How is a russian owned ship sending oil to India flagged under gabbon violating sanctions or commuting a crime even if selling above the non legally (internationaly) binding g7 price cap. As for getting ride of freedom of navigation yes you could do that but it would make the us a hypocrite when the run freedom of navigation operations of the coast of China. Plus most nations support and benefit form freedom of navigation so the un will never change it and their isn't international support to change it (what is needed, not even mentioning countries both in the west and out who'd oppose it). The only thing you could do is crack down on nations like Spain buying it. But I'd imagine they would just buy form India instead (who will just resell russian oil legally)
Love how Russia is turning the anti Russian sanctions of the west into anti western sanctions making European politician look like the clowns they are once again 😂
US to this day is the longest running most successful democracy in history that it even attracks all authoritarians and Dictators to blame their own issues at! US and the European union of its nations treat each other as free nations allied toghether. Surely Russia sees china as a free country that are allied to themselves and not as a "puppet" of them?
With the advent of torpedos and now underwater UAVs, there is no reason a shadow fleet should even exist...One hit and most of those tin cans will go to the bottom.
No one thinks they will. As you should know it's all about looking like you're doing something whilst doing as little as possible. It hurts Russia but is far from being a game changer.
Proud that even though our nations government is hostile against Russia, we the Greek people know better and use our large commercial navy to supply Russia.
Moscow: “Our shadow fleet isn’t real, you’re imagining things” Also Moscow: Sends dozens of ships to harass Sweden 🇸🇪 immediately after joining NATO Who does Putin think he’s fooling here?
Nobody. He knows that everybody knows. Just like everybody knew about the Russian troops in Ukraine in 2014. He's just counting on the international community doing nothing as usual.
It is you who is been fooled. How can you not get it, the West wants to keep Russian oil flowing to avoid high fuel and energy prices in their own economies but at the same time they wanted to look like they are doing something to help Ukraine hence the sanctions on Russia. The fool is anyone who thinks that Western governments intended to keep Russian oil and gas from the market.
Damn, they showed so much promise after the coup. Europe should have taken the initiative and establish relationships with them before Russia etched its claws into the new government.
France is still bemoaning its lost interests, and no other EU or "Western" (I presume that's what you mean, as Russia is European) country really cares
I know this is effectively an act of war, but maybe the world has a blockade on any oil tankers going to and from Russia? This shadow fleet stuff seems relatively tame if they can't get any oil out. I mean, the prospect of war ain't great, but Moscow's starting to use up its military resources just with Ukraine.
@@richardvandertulip4061 idk maybe it’s just not worth it? It would take a lot of resources to implement said blockade. And the country’s buying the oil know it’s black market so they’re able to pay way less for it then normal. Just the fact they have to use a shadow fleet is humiliating for a country like Russia who can’t accept that USA is their daddy.
@@richardvandertulip4061 I imagine what you mean is that there’s no diplomacy between “the West” and “the East”, I believe there’s lots of diplomatic action within the West itself. (I.e. France bitching at Aussie and US about being snubbed for a submarine deal). The truth is we don’t really want to stop Russia from exporting oil because it would negatively affect (effect?) us as well. USA likes its cheap gasoline. I’m afraid sometimes simple solutions just aren’t possible.
@@johnyoung4163 The oil is not black market oil. Why should countries of Africa and Asia be subjected to laws passed in Europe or North America. The only sanctions countries should comply with are those issued by the UN.
@@michaelotieno6524 well they don’t. But we own all the shipping companies that transport the oil, and we reserve the right to refuse service. So we will tell you what you can sell your oil for.
I am a great fan. but talking about Gabon, take a closer look at Angola, There are at least 3 oil tankers that are named after the corrupt princess and technically have never been used, only anchor since the war, check it out and see if Chad is the only satellite, Up to you, but very real and true.
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The interest rate in Russia is 18%. Their economy isn't doing good
4:55 Did you mean 600 tankers?
In other words Russia saw a VPN commercial and asked, "why not do that with oil transports?"
This is essentially what any country does that is considered a flag of convenience for registration of ships but yes.
Russia goes a step further with the addition of a shell game. Which ship is carrying the marble?
All of this pumping of oil from ship to ship and yet, they are still making money off that oil.
@@Morinehturoil is really overvalued bro
@@dateymintah9585 true
2:30 Simon Whistler jumpscare
warning greatly appreciated
He fucking spiked his mic lol
Mindin ya biz ness
Iv never seen that shirt design as a tshirt, it's always been a long sleeved turtle neck sweater until this
After watching this video, I open vesselfinder, search gabon flag ships.
List of ships show up, I choose 1, named nikolay zuyev. A crude oil tanker, last trip was from Kozmino-Russia to Tianjin-China.
This looks like a job for the ministry of ungentlemanly warfare
I love how Moscow has to issue its latest nuclear threat right after its nuclear test failed miserably. I promise that wasn’t the plan 😅
I mean, it's kinda working, after all, restrictions on the use of long range weapons deep into Russia still in place
@@BlondBeast they were still in place before the failed test and latest round of nuclear Sabre rattling also. So idk if it makes any sense to say that the restrictions are in place because of this latest peacocking.
Well that's what tests are for...
@@johnyoung4163 They will stay in place as long as Russia has nuclear weapons
@@SeptikAvenger idk that I agree! It’s obvious they wanted to show their off their nuclear prowess right before making another nuclear threat. These test weren’t intended as purely functional testing, but as a demonstration of power.
The first 8 seconds was the hardest sentence of warographics history
Everybody got puppets and playing The Game the same way. What a Soap Opera
Was there any footage of Gabonese flagged ships or was it like 15 minutes of stock footage tankers
That's a good question because as Gabonese It's a news for me. Our government just bought back a Big oil British company with a lot of asset in the country which has more than double our oil production. Which can explain the growing number of registration of cargo ships. We import and export quite a lot oil for a country our size. These rumors appeared a few months ago and that's what they are. Rumors. I've yet to see any proof of these allegations online. It could be true and false. Who knows...
Gabon has no intentionsof feeding a conflict between slavic brethren and neither will this peaceful and friendly land stick its nose into an onternalI and family feud as its people's Bantu culture profits it. The people that have neversyopped buying gas durectjy from.Russia and and oil from other locations ever since the conflict eruoted have the guts to drag Gabon in the mud. So are they convinced Gabonese people are still living in the 16th century, therefore unanle to know what has been going on around the world. Aren''t they?
The answer is clearly to issue letters of marque.
Unironically, privateering is back on the menu boys!
Our cracked 4 pounders made an awful din.
@@Erik_Ice_Fang We just need to not involve the Canadians.
Privateers flagged in Gabon.
Yeah, but we'd still need to wait for a PMC to start buying up old warships.
Well, tiny in population terms. Gabon is a bit larger in physical size than the United Kingdom.
Sorry to have to tell you, but the UK is tiny in physical size.
I wonder if a couple of those LNG ships going supernova would discourage future shipments.
Everyone runs shadow fleets. That's why when you hear about a ship on the news they always describe it in 2 parts. For example "a German vessel under a Solomon islands flag"
Lol, you missed the point. Watch the video.
What you refer to are called "flags of convenience". They do follow international law, and do trade in the open. More than half of the world's trade is shipped under flags of convenience. You may criticize them for operating under bad working conditions and evading taxes, but that's not meant with the term "shadow fleet".
The term "shadow fleet" means vessels that smuggle sanctioned goods, breaking international law, and operating outside the oversights by the ports and by the insurance system. Smuggling has always existed of course, but Russia has dramatically increased the size of the shadow fleet in recent years.
You guys rock, love your shows
Excellent piece. Important, undercovered. Covert economic wars.
*PRESIDENT "FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND" : FRANCE without GABON is just like a Car without an Engine..😊*
-That's how tiny that Country is.
You think that is crazy what about 98% of Austrian gas being Russian 😅
We don't talk about that at all but they somehow expect African countries to support sanctions they were never consulted about.
They are literally neutral by constitution (Not part of NATO, not sending arms or aid, allowing everyone's spies to operate there) so....
@@michaelotieno6524it's complicated, but bad guys shouldn't be getting paid to be bad guys. That's simple
@@douglasbillington8521 It's not complicated at all. You can't sanction a country, and then openly trade with that country with the sanctioned goods. I suppose that's one way to give yourself a discount, but it's very hypocritical. Not everyone in the world is ready to jump every time the EU or US does a jump scare. They poo-poo India for buying Russian oil, but can't turn off their own taps.
@@douglasbillington8521 That's cool and all, but this is not a comic book.
I hear the Straits of Malacca can be quite a dangerous place. Lots of pirates there.
If north korea still exists, what made you think this sanction was going to work?
Sanctions don’t just make country’s disappear dummy
@@joshuafrimpong244 so idk where my last comment went it wasn’t offensive. Anyway I’ll reiterate, no one thought the sanctions were just gonna make a country disappear. So being like “they aren’t working we still on the map!” makes you sound a little air headed.
@@johnyoung4163 fine then. However that isn't the point of sanctions. They are to force a nation to change
@@joshuafrimpong244 yeah I’M not the one confused about what sanctions are for. Your op makes it pretty clear you are….
@@joshuafrimpong244 and idk if that’s true either really. Sanctions are a penal measure pure and simple. They are meant to degrade a country in one way or another.
Arent shady vessels registered in bahamas or panama or sierra leone?
If you dont want to be known as a ship owner then...
@@skylineXpert I wonder how long it'll be before my feed is flooded with "sanctioned governments don't want you to know this one simple trick" or "5 easy ways for warmongers to skirt sanctions"
No, not really. Ships just get registeted in countries like those for low taxes.
It depends. Flags of convenience are constantly changing, they once were Liberian and Maltese, with an occasional Marshall Islands.
Basically everyone registers in Panama and the Bahamas. Even luxury cruise liners.
Remember, everything is legal in international waters.
"Shadowfleet" sounds like something a villain in GI:Joe would assemble 🤷🏻♀️
❤
Hence the term. It makes Russia sound evil. They do that intentionally; a propaganda tactic.
Just imagine Putin wearing a hood like Cobra Commander.
@@razorburn645 He's more of a Destro, IMHO.
@@wyldhowl2821 Who's Xi then?
Russia's allies called a puppet and US allies called a allies ???
To be fair, a good portion of Russian allies are puppet regimes. I don’t see Gabon as a puppet but other regimes like Belarus definitely are
@@SchmidtyProductions27How is current Japan and Australia not a puppet regime
@ they get to choose their own leaders and they aren’t propped up by the US
@SchmidtyProductions27 No they don't, since WW2 Japanese PMs hav been chosen by the US, their constitution is literally made to benefit the US by making it a docile satellite
Honestly, I find all this 'covert' language rediculous. Bullshit that the ownership of these ships are 'murky' - law enforcement is just lazy. If your ship doesn't have good documentation, port authorities should seize your vessel and it's cargo, and sell it off. Suddenly, a lot of companies and governments will stop fucking around and register their vessels properly.
More likely corrupt than lazy. Asking for a fee to ignore the ship's paperwork just so the law enforcers can afford food might be more common than we think.
I think the Houthi situation exposed that 95% of legitimate shipping is murky for financial/liability reasons. Theyd hit a supposed Israeli owned ship that's Panama registered, owned by a Cayman Islands shell company, but the owner isn't the operator and the operator has subleased it to a Swiss investment group who procured a short term contract on behalf of blah blah blah. The channel What's Going On With Shipping went into a few of these and despite knowing all about shipping he struggled to actually ascertain who owned/operated some of those vessels.
Its just these europeans buying russian gas cant live without russian gas so they let it pass
@LethalJizzle It's all a tax avoidance scheme more or less. It could be shut down real quick anyway, Ports control whether ships land or not.
Ports are free to deny entry to ships if the paper work isn't in accordance with their local standards. But ships can't stop civilian and military ships that are outside the 12 mile territory, it is called "Freedom of Navigation" the Americans are experts at this, just ask China.
Russia: "Gotta catch 'em all!"
cant do that if the west has been backing up corrupt democracies ever since they existed lol
Love the show
I had a good chuckle when Simon said Russia loves a coup - I can think of another country that loves a coup too lol
US bread and butter
Recent example pakistan and bangladesh.
@@prajwal1341
South Korea attempted one in December 2024
You gotta wash that mug
Its a chip, not a stain
I told him that and he told me I had a booger in my nose. I told him that's where I put it.
He's face looks clean to me 🤔😂🤣😂
Top quality as always appreciate ya!
0:10 I had to turn on captions because I kept hearing “a secretive pack of shit” even after listening to it multiple times. Granted I have a massive headache and took my sleeping pills already.
*it would have been quite funny if what I heard ended up being what Simon had said.
Tl,;dr: russia doing russia things
Because the west won’t give Russia a chance to interact with west on friendly terms.
You Kremlin trolls have been absolutely brainwashed...
I love your username 😂
@@qazhr no one is fooled, son
@@dearmas9068 that the kind attitude that led us here trust me we gave Russia’s true honest chance in 90’s we wouldn’t be here.
The world is starting to feel like the show 24.
Anything is better than France influence
Haha fucking oath - those baguette bois are the worst
Is it ? France despite all its flaws contributed hugely positively to the infrastructure and development of those countries (for purely selfish reasons of course as their companies are operating in country but still).
Russia is playing the corruption game with the countries leaders
@@dds3524they’re all in it for themselves. Africa has no true allies
😂
Intereating!
Yea
I don't know why, but I dont love the overuse of "junta" in the recent videos. It all bleeds together even if technically accurate
Thinking some of these ships could make the Exxon Valdez look like a little drop in the water
4:55
you probably meant to say 600 not 6000 ships in the first instance (then 1000, then 1400)
What is he name of the red and black hats worn by the soldiers at 1:22 - 1:23 ?
It would be really nice to see a video detailing the puppets of the US. Is it happening?
Go to a video about what you want to see then, instead of these pathetic attempts to look like a genuine person.
@@neilhillis9858 The only pathetic thing here is your comment. Why wouldnt you like a more well rounded view? I dont understand why people prefer to live in a full media eco chamber that only covers what they want to hear.
Clearly an American from Texas Oblast 👌
@dimitrisfragiadakis1468 bet you only get your information from Russia today
@@brendandolan7763And you would be wrong but dont let that get in the way of the story you have in your head.
9:35 ship growing register haha
How not to care about Gabon?
Hallo, you are the 1st colony of this century. Send in the Belgiums.
Russia really playin dummy nation irl
Another Simon Whistler channel?! How many more are there?
As a coastal Swede: Wait you fucking what? The Russians parked a fleet on my literal god damn doorstep? And recently, at that? I mean I know I don't always know or care what's going on around me, but a whole damn fleet I would have thought I'd notice. Evidently it wasn't terribly intimidating..?
Well at the end of the day, they're shipping vessels. They're intimidating by size alone is all, and they can't ship much if they're busy parading around coastal waters so they probably didn,t stay long.
I imagine it was more a taunt than anything.
you should have remained neutral.
When other countries conduct such activities they usually call them "Freedom of Navigation" exercises.
@@ianbeddowes5362 or what? You’ll send them another boat parade 😂 oh the humanity!
@@johnyoung4163 The Swedes have decided to be on the wrong side of history as has most or Europe. Perhaps it is what Zhukov said at the ene of the Second World War. "They will never forgive us for freeing them from the Nazis".
2:31 BOOM
May be worth noting that the Russian economy isn't doing as hot as its GDP would suggest, for a number of reasons.
The Russian central bank basically announced the country is in stagflation territory, i e., they can't use interest rates as a lever. A desperate country is not a good thing.
But after war it will considering he's sitting in a very valuable land which would not only benefitted him but also solved many of his problem like fertility crisis and shortage of labor workforce.
Annexing land does not fix a fertility crisis. It gives you more population sure, but doesn't fix the Core problem
Israel: "How a tiny nation runs US's shadow fleet."
Oh no! You’re contradicting the antiwhite narrative!!!
Nice joke
And you’re not supposed to know about the UAPs”
Simon needs to accept that western sanctions aren’t world sanctions. What’s in the US’s EU’s interest is not in the rest of the world’s interest
None. We own the waves. It's all ours.
Breaking news! Country acts in its own interest!
Hey Simon😊 nice to see you again, I would love to see an Update on Georgia 🇬🇪
I mean, a country as tiny and as harshly isolated like North Korea still exist after more than 70 years..... How NK still can run their tanks? How they obtain the oil, even far before Russia became a pariah? Russia can't survive? Russia are larger, more powerful and they have lessons from many other pariah states experience.
Okay... But NK is literally a century behind on the rest of the world ... Run by a 'god' and Iran also "religious" fanatics... I mean... Kinda proves it does damage as it sends you literally back to atleast the middle ages mentality wise.
North Korea receives their oil, and just about everything else they need from China.
The USa is the pariah, the civilised two-thirds of the world LIKES Russia.
Isolated from 50/166 countries is not a definition for pariah.
@@ianbeddowes5362 No they don't.
Tanker hunt
A more interesting question would be why the EU and the USA don't step in and explain the facts of life to Gabon.
And what would that look like?
Small countries can have the biggest impacts on the world stage.
Taiwan
@@JoeRaudebaughChina
@@JoeRaudebaugh TAIWAN is not that small.
I don't see why Denmark isn't inspecting these vessels for all the problems you mention. Just keep them queued up for inspection for a couple of months and see what that does to Russia's oil trade.
It's not a Danish Duty.
When french exploited the resources of gabon and destroyed its environment, nobody bats an eye….. freedom for Scotland and northern ireland!
A man with a baldhead wearing glasses is always a fool. Says this video.
Beans on toast
@4:47 over 6,000 tankers?
I think he misread the script. It probably said 600, as the next figure was 1,000.
@@HunterAtheist agree
Gabon's bigger than the UK. Calling it "tiny" seems a bit dismissive.
I think he is talking about population
Or economically
The UK is bigger than Canada. Geography is irrelavant next to population and economy.
brits suffering from phantom colony syndrome
It’s an African country, nothing matters from there
What happened to geographics noticed you have places now and someone else is running geographics
He and the owner of the Biograhics and Geographics channels parted ways. I'm not exactly sure why though.
As always Gabon is helping Russia "circumvent" sanctions. It is as if Africans are always expected to follow the US/European lead. Why should a country comply with directives issue by foreign governments. There is nothing illegal in what Gabon has done how do you circumvent a law that doesn't apply to your country.
If anything the Africans support russia
We dont want to shut off Russian oil/gas exports. Were affected by higher global prices too.
Western leaders seem extraordinarily naive
Think putin the one being native, he bitten off more than he czn chew
The derangement syndrome of this channel always brightens up my day. Thanks for the laughs.
A Puppet is calling others countries puppets...... 🙂🙂
Yes, no doubt. It's not even a quarter century since the UK surree3ndered its balls and join the US in an illegal invasion & occupation.
They set the precedent, but they get mad when others use it.
The ad was way too unnecessarily loud.
This is gold. A Brit, member of NATO, talking about puppet states. Satire can die in peace now..
Tenet media told you that?
@@cyberfunk3793 Post WW2 geopolitics told me that. The period after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact told me that. Also Kosovo and pretty much all the Baltic states.
@@70mavgr Tenet Media confirmed. People in the Baltic states and Poland joined NATO as soon as they could and are very happy with their decision.
@@cyberfunk3793 born and raised American and the uk is definitely our number 1 puppet state.
"Russia loves a good coup".
Global maritime law enforcement sounds difficult to maintain. I can instead imagine the CIA enabling pirates to catch marked ships for far less money.
Their not breaking any law so stopping them would be privacy. All they are doing is circumnavigating sanctions and preventing nations suffering secondary sanctions
@@baileygregory9192 Yeah, and telling a group of people the expected route of a ship isn't breaking any laws either. What that group of people do with that information is up to them.
@CocoHutzpah if those groups are criminal organisations it is. Plus that's a game nobody wants to start playing as the other side can do the same just as easily
@CocoHutzpah yeah it's not illegal just a dumb strategy as your just empowing pirates to do the same to you and you'll just get russia telling them we're western shipping will be. Also you are aware russia has the same capability to protect its shipping of the horn of africa and Indonesian waters (the two big piracy spots) as much as the west. The baltic and Pacific fleet make up the balk of russia fleet. Not to mention nations like India would happily support them if the stuff is heading to them (if not militarily, diplomaticaly)
@@baileygregory9192 you can already track western shipping because they leave their transponders on.
Notification squad, assemble!
Since around 2010-2011 - after Shell found those huge gs depisuts in the Donbas - the Russians set out to capture the energy sector of the world economy. This can also be see in the BRICS alliance, but it is falling apart because Russia cannot sustain this war economy for longer than another year - military budget now 40% of total budget, which is the breaking point of all past fascist regimes.
I hope you’re right, but “Russia is collapsing” claims are a dime a dozen. Idk something about them is starting to feel more desperate though
I think that you should follow the sequence of events which led to Russia taking the Donbass. And if you want fascists, look at the Nazis controlling the Ukrainian state machine, The Russian economy is doing fine, unlike Europe which is brown-nosing the US defence industry.
I've a feeling that the majority of these ships are not owned by Gabonese citizens or companies. I am curious to see who owns what there.
Does it matter
i mean when there's war in Africa no one cares, Europe gets war, everyone's sending help..... i really dont expect gabon to care, they could roll out a list of crap that has gotten done to them by working with western europe
lol Gabon is literally fine the coup happend one year ago and legit working with US that person you listen to is an pro west propgandist.
Sanction Gabon like it’s part of Russia
Spoken like a true idiot.
Sounds like its te for a new PMC. Anyone looking for a job? Blackbeard international is now hiring!
Seems to me that a lot of this could have been avoided and stopped outright save for the lack of will to do so.
Ships sailing from both St Petersburg and the Black Sea have to sail right through EU and NATO waters so if both of these entities found the guts and the motivation to stop, search and ultimately seize all illegal ships passing through, that would put a swift end to the bulk of this activity.
But then, that would require a great deal of the two attributes the west has lacked since this affair began.... Guts and resolve.
They can't do it because nothing makes these ships illegal under international law. Other than violating sactions (what isn't a crime) they aren't violating any law and they have freedom of navigation. It would be hypocracy to do freedom of navigation exercises in strait of Taiwan whilst also bloking freedom in the baltic
@@baileygregory9192 I don't buy that; not for a moment. There are ways to do it. If you want to do it badly enough, and you're creative enough, there are always methods which can be used. Even if it can't be stopped entirely, it can be severely reduced.
Throwing up our hands and saying "there's nothing we can do!" is a large part of the reason we're in these messes with Russia, China, Iran et al to begin with. What's really being said is "there's nothing easy we can do and we can't be bothered doing the hard work because we might step on a few toes or lose a vote or two."
@hughjass1044 OK pls tell me what we can do what is in line with international law. Unless your proposing piracy or stopping lawful vessels in the open seas
@@baileygregory9192 Well, for starters, I'll point out a couple of errors in what you said originally. These ships are in fact, illegal in the way they're operating; most notably by turning off their transponders. That is a safety violation and can be treated as such. And violating sanctions is illegal if those violating them are from the same jurisdiction as the one levying them, or has a treaty of some sort with them.
But more broadly, there are other ways this can be stopped. The waters these vessels sail through are in some cases, the territorial waters of sovereign nations; some of them EU, NATO, or even both. The Skagerrak, the English Channel and the Turkish Straits, for example. They are NOT international waters. It's simply a matter that there are agreements in place to allow for free movement of ships through them to get to and from where they're going. Rescind or modify those agreements. It's been done before, it can be done again. All that's required is the balls to do it.
Secondly, you can go after any or all of three parties - those loading the ships, those who own and sail them, and those who receive the shipments. Not many people know for example, that countries such as Spain, Portugal and even Turkey are buying this oil on the spot market for cheap while still pretending to oppose Russia.
You simply tell these countries that we know full well what you're up to you can continue to do business with Russia or you can do business with the US, the EU or whatever but it will not be both.
These are only some of the measures which can be taken. They're just a few examples. There are many others. None of them are easy, none of them are pain free and none of them do not risk ruffling a few feathers but what it comes down to is this... You want Russia stopped... or you don't. If you do, you'll do what's necessary to get the job done. If you don't, you'll just sit back, wring your hands and make excuses.
@hughjass1044 none of these ships are violating sanctions tho. How is a russian owned ship sending oil to India flagged under gabbon violating sanctions or commuting a crime even if selling above the non legally (internationaly) binding g7 price cap. As for getting ride of freedom of navigation yes you could do that but it would make the us a hypocrite when the run freedom of navigation operations of the coast of China. Plus most nations support and benefit form freedom of navigation so the un will never change it and their isn't international support to change it (what is needed, not even mentioning countries both in the west and out who'd oppose it).
The only thing you could do is crack down on nations like Spain buying it. But I'd imagine they would just buy form India instead (who will just resell russian oil legally)
I've never been this early like ever! 🎉🎉🎉
bro he's spreading lies again Gabon is literally working with US plus he is an propogandist.
A brit ranting about puppet states....
Oh the irony
Simon is a brit in Czech but nice try lol
You definitely didn't do well in school
@@WillToTheSmithYes, a brit.
This is like an OSINT loot box.
Love how Russia is turning the anti Russian sanctions of the west into anti western sanctions making European politician look like the clowns they are once again 😂
Shadowfleets huh...
When will we have a similar title with the us instead?
Most likely never, considering this is a western channel
US to this day is the longest running most successful democracy in history that it even attracks all authoritarians and Dictators to blame their own issues at! US and the European union of its nations treat each other as free nations allied toghether. Surely Russia sees china as a free country that are allied to themselves and not as a "puppet" of them?
Secondary sanctions on every country that has their ships regularly turning off their transponders like this.
No thanks
Plenty of countries have flags of convince
Sanctions are always coming from those who do not respect the rules in the first place. The US is the champion of the sanction sport.
@@karlnathanielpambou2423 Ah, so EU and US are now annexing parts of other countries by military force, not ru?
I can safely say I am not a fan of the Russian government.
Par for the course ...
With the advent of torpedos and now underwater UAVs, there is no reason a shadow fleet should even exist...One hit and most of those tin cans will go to the bottom.
You’re actually suggesting the German U-boat strategy here. You’ve reinvented fascist thinking through being so peace loving
That's a lot of oil to just spill in the oceans though.
@@armlegx The price of peace
UUVs aren't prevalent yet at least.
@@docmike8601the dumbest argument ever
WW3 speedrun
Thank you
Can you imagine the nerve of Russia still finding ways to export their fossil fuels. They should just play by the rules we make up as we go along!
who's gonna stop them😂
Cause you're nothing 😂
If Venezuela, North Korea,Cuba didn't collapse due to sanctions, Then what makes you think that Russia would collapse.
North Korea is kept afloat by Chinese aid.
No one thinks they will. As you should know it's all about looking like you're doing something whilst doing as little as possible. It hurts Russia but is far from being a game changer.
Everyone like this I want to be number one for once we all love this channel"amongst others" agree if your with me
Proud that even though our nations government is hostile against Russia, we the Greek people know better and use our large commercial navy to supply Russia.
Moscow: “Our shadow fleet isn’t real, you’re imagining things”
Also Moscow: Sends dozens of ships to harass Sweden 🇸🇪 immediately after joining NATO
Who does Putin think he’s fooling here?
Thing is he doesn't care LMAO. Unfortunately most western leaders (that matter) are too scared to call him on his bluff
Nobody. He knows that everybody knows. Just like everybody knew about the Russian troops in Ukraine in 2014. He's just counting on the international community doing nothing as usual.
It is you who is been fooled. How can you not get it, the West wants to keep Russian oil flowing to avoid high fuel and energy prices in their own economies but at the same time they wanted to look like they are doing something to help Ukraine hence the sanctions on Russia.
The fool is anyone who thinks that Western governments intended to keep Russian oil and gas from the market.
I don't think putin really cares what anybody thinks
Oh! Another Nazi sympathiser. Apart from Crimea, which was never really part of Ukraine, where were there Russian troops?
What has happened to this channel?
It became a political outlet 😂
Damn, they showed so much promise after the coup. Europe should have taken the initiative and establish relationships with them before Russia etched its claws into the new government.
Europe was supporting their old dictatorial leader, naturally the junta would turn to Russia or China.
France is still bemoaning its lost interests, and no other EU or "Western" (I presume that's what you mean, as Russia is European) country really cares
I know this is effectively an act of war, but maybe the world has a blockade on any oil tankers going to and from Russia? This shadow fleet stuff seems relatively tame if they can't get any oil out. I mean, the prospect of war ain't great, but Moscow's starting to use up its military resources just with Ukraine.
@@richardvandertulip4061 idk maybe it’s just not worth it? It would take a lot of resources to implement said blockade. And the country’s buying the oil know it’s black market so they’re able to pay way less for it then normal. Just the fact they have to use a shadow fleet is humiliating for a country like Russia who can’t accept that USA is their daddy.
@johnyoung4163 Fair enough. Just looking for "simple" solutions even though there is no such thing in international diplomacy.
@@richardvandertulip4061 I imagine what you mean is that there’s no diplomacy between “the West” and “the East”, I believe there’s lots of diplomatic action within the West itself. (I.e. France bitching at Aussie and US about being snubbed for a submarine deal). The truth is we don’t really want to stop Russia from exporting oil because it would negatively affect (effect?) us as well. USA likes its cheap gasoline.
I’m afraid sometimes simple solutions just aren’t possible.
@@johnyoung4163 The oil is not black market oil. Why should countries of Africa and Asia be subjected to laws passed in Europe or North America. The only sanctions countries should comply with are those issued by the UN.
@@michaelotieno6524 well they don’t. But we own all the shipping companies that transport the oil, and we reserve the right to refuse service. So we will tell you what you can sell your oil for.
Why not just call this channel "anti Russia " channel?
facts bro is legit an progandist for the west and now lies about africa
This guy himself is pupet
Oh, these dons. I wondered why Ghana got some oil from russia a few months ago
I am a great fan. but talking about Gabon, take a closer look at Angola, There are at least 3 oil tankers that are named after the corrupt princess and technically have never been used, only anchor since the war, check it out and see if Chad is the only satellite, Up to you, but very real and true.
Since Russia is the Africa of Europe it knows how to conduct business with other third world countries.
Lol interesting way to put it 😂