The Caspian Sea Is a Sanctions-Busting Paradise

While everyone is watching the latest drama unfold in the Black Sea, mysterious shipping journeys are taking place in the Caspian Sea. The massive lake—the world’s largest—is bordered by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. And these days, the ocean-like sea is the scene of enormous volumes of hush-hush shipping involving primarily Russian and Iranian vessels.

The past three months have each seen more than 600 AIS gaps by Russian-flagged vessels alone, up from just over 100 per month during the same period last year. (AIS is the automatic identification system, which virtually all commercial vessels are obliged to use; AIS gaps are the periods of time when a vessel’s system stops transmitting.) Russian and Iranian vessels traveling between the two countries are also conducting dark port calls—calling at ports with their AIS switched off—and some are even spoofing their location. Russia is entering the shadow economy.

On a recent day, 12 vessels traveling between Russia and Iran in the Caspian Sea were conducting dark port calls. (All were owned by Russian or Iranian entities, flying under Russian or Iranian flag, or both.)

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