As UK ministers aim to clamp down on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, lessons from operation Piano are now being considered. France and Germany have since taken decisive action against sanctioned Russian ships while the UK’s role in seizures has so far been a supporting one. UK officials are understood to have opened conversations with commercial port owners who have indicated a willingness to help the UK Government store seized vessels in theory. Healey told the Commons Defence Committee that he has “identified further military options” to target shadow vessels and suggested using seized Russian oil revenues to support Ukraine. A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said that since October 2024, the UK has “challenged” around 600 “suspected shadow fleet vessels”.