Erasing The 'Gray Zone': Trump's World-Changing Campaign Against The Shadow Fleet
Maritime supremacy as strategic hedging against global conflict
France seized a ‘shadow fleet’ tanker, the Grinch, in the Atlantic last week. The ship had allegedly been used to evade sanctions on Russian oil. Emmanuel Macron said the ship was “subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag”, and French authorities “confirmed the doubts as to the regularity of the flag” upon boarding. The US Navy has seized seven shadow fleet vessels since 10 December 2025 and the Royal Navy has assisted both partners. Even the Italians have seized a shadow fleet freighter. Additionally, the United States and western partners have sanctioned hundreds of vessels, about one-third of the entire shadow fleet.
For the Europeans, this is about the international order and other fine sentiments. For the Trump administration, however, this is all about closing the ‘gray zone’ that America’s enemies created in order to frustrate American power and circumvent western sanctions. The Trump administration wants to forestall war with China, or failing that, set up conditions for victory. Secondarily, Trump now aims to reduce or remove the regime in Iran, cut off Russia’s lifeline to ready cash, and end the communist regime in Cuba, all in one neat package of global maritime supremacy. It might even work because it is already working. Forget the strategic tensions of yesteryear, for they are all being disrupted, right now. It turns out that we actually can just do things.
Until recently, Venezuela has served as the Atlantic port-of-call for the shadow fleet and the ‘gray zone’ economy created by strategic antagonists to America and Europe. This essay will examine each country affected by that war in turn. First, The Wall Street Journal made this short video a few days ago showing the global traffic pattern of the shadow fleet, and it is worth watching. More than 1,400 vessels operate at the margins of international law on the high seas, often doing ship-to-ship oil transfers without much care for environmental risk. Dark fleet ships are older, more dangerous, pollute more, and frequently use deceptive tactics, such as false transponder signals and re-flagging at sea, to circumvent sanctions. Note how Venezuela has been the Atlantic cornerstone of the gray zone. Premium subscriber content is below the video.
