The "shadow fleet" of sanctioned tankers carrying petroleum from Iran, Venezuela and Russia is getting bigger, and operators are getting more creative and effective at evading enforcement. One marine analyst estimated that there are more than 1,100 tankers operating in the shadow fleet today, which would account for roughly one-fifth of the tonnage available on the water — considerably higher than in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The main difficulty in hampering shadow fleet operations is simple — buyers for sanctioned petroleum are plentiful, and the shadowy volumes can be even more attractive since they often come deeply discounted. Shipping sources say US sanctions tend to have more bite than those implemented by the EU or the UK. But the US tends to focus more on tankers carrying Iranian and, to a lesser extent, Venezuelan barrels and less on Russian cargoes.