The head of oil tanker operator Frontline said the United Nations body that sets maritime rules was “sleeping behind the wheel” over an increasing fleet of unregulated ships, the Financial Times reported.

The report quoted Lars Barstad as saying that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) wasn’t doing enough to enforce its safety and environment regulations.

It’s “only a question of time” until a disaster happens, he reportedly said.

“All these vessels . . . are trading outside the IMO framework,” Barstad was quoted as saying. “They have been sleeping behind the wheel now for quite some time in respect of tankers.”

Barstad reportedly said he was “very, very concerned” about the increasing dark fleet, saying it has incentivized “lawbreaking operators” to bring in an “insane amount of money.”

He reportedly pointed to the July collision of Hafnia’s (HAFN) Hafnia Nile tanker with a dark fleet ship Ceres I carrying Iranian oil off Malaysia. The US Treasury Department said in a sanctions notice last month against the Ceres I owners that the ship’s radar system was broadcasting an inaccurate position.

That would be in the environment a bigger problem,” he reportedly said. “It can happen any day — and then the biggest problem is that, if that happens, nobody will know who actually owns the ship or the cargo.”

Barstad reportedly said there have been unconfirmed reports of other incidents besides the July incident. “I’m very surprised we’ve not had more incidents like this,” he reportedly said. “I think it’s only a question of time until we get a big one.”

He also called out European governments for not enforcing rules aimed at hindering the trade of oil from Russia, accusing them of being afraid of increasing oil prices.

The dark fleet of vessels has increased to around a fifth of the global fleet after Moscow-linked owners acquired hundreds of older ships to get around the curbs on Russia’s oil trade imposed by western governments, the FT reported.

The report said dark fleet ships that carry oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela usually belong to offshore firms whose ownership is not clear and frequently aren’t adequately insured. Also, they are often registered under the flags of countries that don’t do much to enforce regulations on safety inspections, the FT added.

Neither Frontline nor the IMO immediately responded to requests for comment by Seeking Alpha.

Source: Seeking Alpha