Russia has amassed a shadow fleet to ship its oil around sanctions

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/21/ [login to see] /russia-oil-shadow-fleet-sanctions
Before Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Europe was by far the largest customer for the oil sales that give Moscow its wealth, even bigger than Russia's domestic market. But since European countries banned most Russian oil imports last year, Russia has had to sell more of it to other places such as China and India.

Yet Russia faces a dilemma. It can't pipe its oil to those places like it did to Europe, and its own tanker fleet can't carry it all. It needs more ships. But the United States and its allies also imposed restrictions to prevent tankers and shipping services from transporting Russian oil, unless it's sold at or under $60 per barrel.

Right now, Russia's flagship brand of oil, Urals, sells below that price. But that could change. So Russia would have to turn to a fleet of tankers willing to get around the sanctions to move its crude to farther locations in Asia or elsewhere. It's known in the oil industry as a "shadow fleet."