HELSINKI — The U.K. is ready to work with its European allies to intercept vessels in Russia’s “shadow fleet,” Britain’s chief foreign minister said Wednesday. A week after British armed forces supported the U.S. seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, Yvette Cooper said Britain is prepared to work on enforcement with “other countries and other allies” against ships suspected of carrying sanctioned oil or damaging undersea infrastructure. Promising “stronger action” to break the shadow fleet’s “chokehold,” she added: “It means a more robust response, and it means as we see operations by shadow fleet vessels, standing ready to be able to act.” While the foreign secretary would not be drawn on the specific action the U.K. might take, her charged rhetoric appears to be laying the ground for future interventions that go beyond last week’s coordination with the Trump administration. Officials believe that the U.K. government has identified a legal basis for the military to board shadow fleet vessels in international shipping lanes, in certain cases. Cooper did not rule out the prospect of British forces boarding vessels, telling POLITICO: “It means looking at whatever is appropriate, depending on the circumstances that we face.” She also did not rule out using oil from seized vessels to fund the Ukrainian war effort — but cautioned that the prospect was of a different order to using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. That idea hit a wall in discussions between EU countries in December. The foreign secretary said: “As you know, we’ve had all sorts of discussions in the past about different Russian sovereign assets. That’s a different set of circumstances. So we take the approach that it always has to be done within an international legal framework and on a case-by-case basis.” Asked directly if she was talking about joint shadow fleet operations with European allies, Cooper said: “We stand ready to work with allies on stronger enforcement around the shadow fleet.” Cooper made her comments on Wednesday after a demonstration on board the Finnish Border Guard ship Turva. It took part in a Dec. 31 operation to seize a cargo ship sailing from Russia to Israel, which was accused of deliberately damaging a cable between Helsinki and Estonia. Finnish authorities demonstrated a mock operation similar to the one that seized the ship on New Year’s Eve. Cooper watched as five armed officers slid down a rope from a helicopter onto the deck and stormed the bridge, shouting: “Hands up.” The operation took around three minutes. Cooper said after the demonstration: “The reason for being here is to see the work that Finland has been doing around the shadow fleet, and to look at what the further potential is for us to work with allies to strengthen that enforcement work.” Mari Rantanen, Finland’s interior minister, said the age of some Russian-linked tankers using northern shipping routes risks an ecologically disastrous oil spill. | Olivier Hoslet/EPA She name-checked work by France and Finland, while one U.K. official said she also intends to work with Norway. Mari Rantanen, Finland’s interior minister, said the age of some Russian-linked tankers using northern shipping routes risks an ecologically disastrous oil spill. “These vessels, these tankers, are very old,” she told POLITICO. “They are not built [for] this kind of icy weather, and they are in very bad shape, so the environmental risk is huge.” Mikko Simola, the commander of the Gulf of Finland coastguard, said he has seen “a rapid change since early 2022” in the prevalence of malign activity, for which Moscow denies responsibility. Simola said he would let the courts decide who was culpable, but said it was “certainly very strange to believe that in a short period of time, many cable and gas pipe damages would happen by accident in the same area.”

A cargo ship that sailed from Russia was detained in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday following damage to an underwater data cable linking Finland and Estonia. “A ship that was in the area at the time of the cable damage between Helsinki and Tallinn has been diverted to Finnish waters,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo posted on X. “The government is closely monitoring the situation.” The Fitburg, which was under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, had departed St. Petersburg, Russia on Dec. 30 and was en route to Israel with crew from Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Telecoms provider Elisa notified authorities at 5 a.m. of a cable break in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from its coast. Hours later a Finnish patrol vessel caught the Fitburg with its anchor in the water in Finland’s exclusive economic zone, the country’s coast guard reported. “At the moment we suspect aggravated disruption of telecommunications and also aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage,” Helsinki police chief Jari Liukku told media. “Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” President Alexander Stubb said on X. Earlier this year the NATO military alliance launched its “Baltic Sentry” program to stop attacks against subsea energy and data cables in the Baltic Sea that have multiplied following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The sabotage has included the severing of an internet cable between Finland and Germany in November 2024 and another between Finland and Sweden the following month. A July study by the University of Washington found that 10 subsea cables in the Baltic Sea had been cut since 2022. “A majority of these incidents have raised suspicions of sabotage by state actors, specifically Russia and China, who have been particularly active in the region,” the study noted.

The message from Capitol Hill on both sides of the aisle is clear: Get ready for U.S. relations with China to spiral all over again in the new year. The one-year trade truce brokered in October between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping is already looking shaky. And lawmakers are preparing to reup clashes over trade, Taiwan and cyber-intrusions when they return in January. “It’s like a heavyweight fight, and we’re in that short time period in-between rounds, but both sides need to be preparing for what is next after the truce,” Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), a member of the House Select Committee on China, said in an interview. POLITICO talked to more than 25 lawmakers, including those on the House Select Committee on China, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s East Asia subcommittee and the Congressional Executive Commission on China, for their views on the durability of the trade treaty. Both Republicans and Democrats warned of turbulence ahead. More than 20 of the lawmakers said they doubt Xi will deliver on key pledges the White House said he made in October, including reducing the flow of precursor chemicals to Mexico that cartels process into fentanyl and buying agreed volumes of U.S. agricultural goods. “China can never be trusted. They’re always looking for an angle,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said. That pessimism comes despite an easing in U.S.-China tensions since the Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea. The bruising cycle of tit-for-tat tariffs that briefly hit triple digits earlier this year is currently on pause. Both countries have relaxed export restrictions on essential items (rare earths for the U.S., chip design software for China), while Beijing has committed to “expanding agricultural product trade” in an apparent reference to the suspension of imports of U.S. agricultural products it imposed earlier this year. This trend may continue, given that Trump is likely to want stability in the U.S.-China relationship ahead of a summit with Xi planned for April in Beijing. “We’re starting to see some movement now on some of their tariff issues and the fentanyl precursor issue,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said. But a series of issues have been brushed aside in negotiations or left in limbo — a status quo the Trump administration can only maintain for so long. The U.S.-China trade deal on rare earths that Bessent said the two countries would finalize by Thanksgiving remains unsettled. And the White House hasn’t confirmed reporting from earlier this month that Beijing-based ByteDance has finalized the sale of the TikTok social media app ahead of the Jan. 23 deadline for that agreement. “The idea that we’re in a period of stability with Beijing is simply not accurate,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Shaheen has been sounding the alarm on China’s national security threats since she entered the Senate in 2009. But even some lawmakers who have been more open to engagement with Beijing — such as California Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna and Ami Bera — said that they don’t expect the armistice to last. The White House is more upbeat about the prospects for U.S.-China trade ties. “President Trump’s close relationship with President Xi is helping ensure that both countries are able to continue building on progress and continue resolving outstanding issues,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the administration “continues to monitor China’s compliance with our trade agreement.” It declined to comment on the TikTok deal. Still, the lawmakers POLITICO spoke with described four issues that could derail U.S.-China ties in the New Year: A SOYBEAN SPOILER U.S. soybean farmers’ reliance on the Chinese market gives Beijing a powerful non-tariff trade weapon — and China doesn’t appear to be following through on promises to renew purchases. The standoff over soybeans started in May, when China halted those purchases, raising the prospect of financial ruin across farming states including Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Indiana — key political constituencies for the GOP in the congressional midterm elections next year. The White House said last month that Xi committed to buying 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in November and December. But so far, Beijing has only purchased a fraction of that agreed total, NBC reported this month. “What agitates Trump and causes him to react quickly are things that are more domestic and closer to home,” Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii) said. China’s foot-dragging on soybean purchases “is the most triggering because it’s hurting American farmers and consumers, so that’s where we could see the most volatility in the relationship,” she said. That trigger could come on Feb. 28 — the new deadline for that 12 million metric ton purchase, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced earlier this month. The Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment on whether Beijing plans to meet this deadline. The White House said one of the aspects of the trade deal it is monitoring is soybean purchases through this growing season. THE TAIWAN TINDERBOX Beijing’s threats to invade Taiwan are another near-term potential flashpoint, even though the U.S. hasn’t prioritized the issue in its national security strategy or talks between Xi and Trump. China has increased its preparations for a Taiwan invasion this year. In October, the Chinese military debuted a new military barge system that addresses some of the challenges of landing on the island’s beaches by deploying a bridge for cargo ships to unload tanks or trucks directly onto the shore. “China is tightening the noose around the island,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who joined a bipartisan congressional delegation to China in September and returned calling for better communications between the U.S. and Chinese militaries. Some of the tension around Taiwan is playing out in the wider region, as Beijing pushes to expand its military reach and its influence. Chinese fighter jets locked radar — a prelude to opening fire — on Japanese aircraft earlier this month in the East China Sea. “There is a real chance that Xi overplays his hand on antagonizing our allies, particularly Australia and Japan,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said. “There is still a line [China] cannot cross without making this truce impossible to sustain.” The U.S. has a decades-long policy of “strategic ambiguity” under which it refuses to spell out how the U.S. would respond to Chinese aggression against Taiwan. Trump has also adhered to that policy. “You’ll find out if it happens,” Trump said in an interview with 60 Minutes in November. MORE EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ON THE WAY Beijing has eased its export restrictions on rare earths — metallic elements essential to both civilian and military applications — but could reimpose those blocks at any time. Ten of the 25 lawmakers who spoke to POLITICO said they suspect Beijing will reimpose those export curbs as a convenient pressure point in the coming months. “At the center of the crack in the truce is China’s ability to levy export restrictions, especially its chokehold on the global supply of rare earths and other critical minerals,” Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) said. Others are worried China will choose to expand its export controls to another product category for which it has market dominance — pharmaceuticals. Beijing supplies 80 percent of the U.S. supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients — the foundations of common drugs to treat everything from high blood pressure to type 2 diabetes. “Overnight, China could turn off the spigot and many basic pharmaceuticals, including things like aspirin, go away from the supply chain in the United States,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) said. China restarted exports of rare earths earlier this month, and its Commerce Ministry pledged “timely approval” of such exports under a new licensing system, state media reported. Beijing has not indicated its intent to restrict the export of pharmaceuticals or their components as a trade weapon. But the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission urged the Food and Drug Administration to reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese sources of pharmaceuticals in its annual report last month. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment. GROWING CHINESE MILITARY MUSCLE China’s drive to develop a world-class military that can challenge traditional U.S. dominion of the Indo-Pacific could also derail relations between Washington and Beijing in 2026. China’s expanding navy — which, at more than 200 warships, is now the world’s largest — is helping Beijing show off its power across the region. The centerpiece of that effort in 2025 has been the addition of a third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which entered into service last month. The Fujian is two-thirds the size of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier. But like the Ford, it boasts state-of-the-art electromagnetic catapults to launch J-35 and J-15T fighter jets. The Trump administration sees that as a threat. The U.S. aims to insulate allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific from possible Chinese “sustained successful military aggression” powered by Beijing’s “historic military buildup,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this month at the Reagan National Defense Forum. Five lawmakers said they see China’s increasingly aggressive regional military footprint as incompatible with U.S. efforts to maintain a stable relationship with Beijing in the months ahead. “We know the long-term goal of China is really economic and diplomatic and military domination around the world, and they see the United States as an adversary,” Moran said. Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.

The publisher of children’s book series Franklin the Turtle hit out at “unauthorized” depictions of its main character after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a mock cover of Franklin shooting at drug traffickers. Hegseth shared Sunday an image of a children’s book, titled Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists, showing the eponymous turtle dressed in military gear, standing in a helicopter and firing a weapon at boats loaded with cargo and men with guns. “For your Christmas wish list,” Hegseth captioned the picture. His post was a reference to the Trump administration’s deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific in recent months, which have killed more than 80 people, according to the Pentagon, and raised concerns among lawmakers and others about the limits of executive power and the strikes’ compliance with international law. “Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity,” the publisher Kids Can Press wrote in a statement on X. “We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values,” the publishing house added. The Washington Post reported last week that Hegseth directed the U.S. military to kill any survivors in a Sept. 2 strike on a boat off the Trinidad coast that initially left two people clinging to the smoking wreckage. POLITICO has not independently verified the Post’s reporting. The White House on Monday confirmed a second strike in September had killed injured civilians after the first effort failed — but top officials in the Trump administration have stated pointedly it was U.S. Special Operations Command head Adm. Frank Bradley’s call, not Hegseth’s. Bradley was “within his authority and the law” in conducting the second strike, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. Hegseth himself called Bradley “an American hero” and pledged his “100% support” in a post on X that placed responsibility for the Sept. 2 strike on the admiral. “I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since,” Hegseth wrote. The Franklin books see the young turtle dealing with life’s everyday challenges, such as Franklin Goes to the Hospital and Franklin Rides a Bike, and teach about themes such as courage and empathy.

Unidentified drones affected Belgian airports from Thursday evening into Friday morning, amid an escalating crisis in the European skies. Liège Airport briefly suspended air traffic twice, around 10 p.m. on Thursday night and again Friday morning around 6 a.m., each time for about an hour, according to public broadcaster VRT. The airport handles mainly cargo, with only a few passenger flights each day. Brussels airport also had to divert one flight to Amsterdam Thursday night after a drone was detected nearby. Air traffic at Brussels Airport was disrupted by more drone sightings on Tuesday evening. As the continent’s issues become more widespread — and some European governments have pointed the finger of blame at Russia — drones were also spotted over Antwerp’s port area on Thursday night. For consecutive nights on Tuesday and Wednesday, drones were also observed above the Royal School for Non-Commissioned Officers in the Flemish city of Sint-Truiden. Belgium held a National Security Council meeting Thursday, after which Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said that authorities had the situation “under control.” Defense Minister Theo Francken vowed to strengthen Belgium’s National Air Security Center (NASC). “The NASC in Bevekom must be fully operational by January 1,” he wrote in a social media post. “This center will ensure better monitoring and protection of Belgian airspace and prepare Belgium for future challenges in air security,” he added.

ATHENS — At least two crew members of a Greek-owned vessel were wounded and two were missing on Monday in the Red Sea, according to Greek government officials and the vessel’s owner. In the second comparable attack in the Red Sea in 24 hours, the Liberian-flagged Eternity C cargo ship was targeted by sea drones and skiffs off Hodeidah, 50 nautical miles west of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. No one has claimed responsibility for the strikes. “The vessel was en route to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia when it was struck. Its crew includes 22 Filipinos and three Indian armed guards,” an official from Cosmoship, the Greek company that owns the vessel, told POLITICO. It was not clear whether the attack had ended, as the comms were impacted and the crew could not be contacted, the official added. Two senior Greek government officials confirmed the attack and the nationalities of the people on board. The attack came hours after Houthi militants claimed responsibility for a similar assault on another Greek-owned ship in the Red Sea, the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Magic Seas, which they claimed to have sunk. The vessel was attacked on Sunday with drones, missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, forcing its crew to abandon ship. They were picked up by a passing vessel and transferred to Djibouti. POLITICO contacted a spokesperson for the Houthi rebels by email but didn’t immediately receive a reply. Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade in what the group has described as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. The Israeli military said it struck Houthi-held Yemeni ports early Monday for the first time in nearly a month.

In a Washington full of big money and bigger personalities, it’s shaping up to be the breakup of the decade. And it’s happening for all the world to see. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his onetime close adviser and top political benefactor, on Thursday began sparring in a bitter, public feud that could have lasting implications for the world’s richest man, the president and the entire Republican Party. Almost nothing seemed off limits as the two parried — Musk suggested the president should be impeached, Trump threatened Musk’s companies, and Musk even threw out allegations related to Jeffrey Epstein. The blowup — which many had long predicted was inevitable — comes less than a week after the two stood side by side in the Oval Office highlighting their bond and fawning over each other’s efforts and talent. But the GOP megabill, Trump’s signature legislation, which could undermine Musk’s businesses by withdrawing extremely valuable subsidies, shattered what many had always assumed was an alliance of convenience. And it rocketed from a relatively civil policy disagreement to a blowup threatening to derail the president’s agenda and Musk’s personal fortune. Musk had spent three days criticizing the bill, which he called a “disgusting abomination,” and the Republicans in the House who voted for it, but Trump had largely held his tongue, though he and close aides were privately frustrated. But by Thursday morning Trump had clearly had enough. “Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “I don’t know if we will anymore.” He later said he was “very disappointed in Elon” and suggested Musk was suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.” Boom. Musk, who had shattered fundraising records when he spent nearly $300 million to help sweep Trump into the White House, swiftly hit back, saying minutes later on his social media platform X: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.” He added: “Such ingratitude.” The explosion mushroomed from there. Trump — who had given Musk broad powers with little oversight as part of the Department of Government Efficiency to slash through the federal government, rooting out so-called waste, fraud and abuse — said on Truth Social, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” which are reportedly worth $38 billion. In response to Trump’s threat, Musk said his rocket company, SpaceX, would “begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” The U.S. government uses Dragon to transport astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. The stock price for Tesla, which has been bolstered by billions of dollars in government subsidies, fell over 14 percent Thursday afternoon. The automaker, the source of much of Musk’s wealth, has suffered a series of financial blows during Musk’s time in the White House. Ahead of his exit, Musk attributed his departure from Washington to needing to focus on nurturing the beleaguered company. Trump also alleged that Musk had been “wearing thin” during his time in the White House, and that he’d “asked him to leave.” Musk retorted with a barrage of X posts of his own. “Such an obvious lie. So sad,” he said of the allegation. Then he dropped what he called “the really big bomb.” Trump “is in the Epstein files,” he said, referring to the records of the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk said, adding: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.” In February, the Department of Justice released what it called the “first phase” of documents related to the Epstein investigation, which has been a fixation of some of the president’s supporters. It has long been public that Trump — along with other prominent figures, like Bill Clinton — are referenced in documents released in court cases surrounding Epstein. But Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing linked to Epstein. The White House blamed Musk’s comments on Thursday on his disapproval of the GOP megabill. “This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.” Trump and Musk have been at odds over policy before — Musk, for example, slammed Trump’s sweeping tariff regime, which would damage his businesses — but the contention over the megabill laid bare a broader rupture between the two former allies. In the White House on Thursday, Trump claimed that Musk had known “the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody” and “he had no problem with it.” But, Trump said, Musk had been “disturbed” by a part of the bill that would cut subsidies for electric vehicles, which would undermine Tesla. Trump also said Musk had been disappointed when the White House last week pulled the nomination for Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Musk had pushed Isaacman for the role, Trump said, but the president had decided to select a different nominee because Isaacman “happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat.” “Suddenly [Musk] had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut the EV mandate that’s billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said. Musk denied Trump’s claim that he knew the “inner workings” of the bill, writing in another post that it “was never shown to me even once.” “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” Musk said. Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.

The United States and China have made “substantial progress” toward reaching a detente in their trade war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. But the Trump administration provided no further information on what the two countries had agreed to after two days of talks in Geneva, Switzerland aimed at lowering trade tensions, which have ground commerce between the world’s two largest economies to a near halt. And it’s unclear if the outcome of the talks are likely to restart bilateral trade in the near future. “We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive,” Bessent said in a statement released to the press Sunday afternoon. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who also attended the talks, echoed Bessent, saying in a statement it was “a very constructive two days.” “We’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency,” Greer added. Trump hailed progress after the first day of talks in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, but did not provide many details. “A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things discussed, much agreed to,” Trump wrote. Trump spent his first few months in office trying to compel Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the bargaining table. Unlike other countries targeted by U.S. tariffs, China has not rushed to request consultations nor offered deals to cut its trade barriers — rather it has retaliated with higher tariffs of its own. That prompted an escalating tit-for-tat on trade that has made it prohibitively expensive for the two countries to buy each others’ goods. Beijing has also sought to rally trading partners in Asia and Europe to form a common front against the Trump tariffs. Rather than engaging with Trump, Chinese state media has crafted a narrative of China being a defender of a rules-based global trading order centered on the World Trade Organization and demonized the U.S. as an enemy of that system. “The fact that both sides are showing some willingness to have a bit of give and take to kind of get into conversation —that’s positive,” said Emily Kilcrease, former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative during the end of Trump’s first term and the beginning of former President Joe Biden’s term. “Inevitably those tariff rates are going to have to come down, so the meeting’s about the packaging you put around that to make that politically viable on both sides.” Tariffs are just one front in the wider U.S.-China trade war. Both countries have also sought to pile on the pressure by imposing non-tariff barriers aimed to hit each other’s critical exports. The Chinese government over the past four months has halted or significantly curtailed direct imports of major U.S. commodities including beef, poultry and liquefied gas through an array of bureaucratic blocks and tricky third-party sales deals. The U.S. has responded by raising docking fees for Chinese cargo vessels at U.S. ports.

LONDON — The U.K. is imposing fresh sanctions on up to 100 vessels accused of shipping Russian oil in the face of international sanctions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Friday. The British government said the tankers had moved more than £18 billion of Russian oil since the start of 2024 in defiance of curbs imposed on Moscow after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia has tried getting around these economic conditions by building up a “shadow fleet” of tankers, often aging vessels with obscure ownership and unknown insurance. Speaking ahead of a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) meeting in Oslo, Starmer said the move would increase pressure on Moscow. “The threat from Russia to our national security cannot be underestimated,” Starmer said Friday. “That is why we will do everything in our power to destroy his shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives.” The package of measures will also take aim at ships and boats accused of damaging critical undersea infrastructure. The sanctioned tankers will be prevented from entering British ports and risk being detained in U.K. waters. Similar curbs were imposed on the Kremlin during the last JEF meeting in December 2024.

GRIMSBY, England — In the lobby bar of the St. James Hotel, glum-looking sailors huddled around cups of tea (or something stronger.) They were reliving the collision that days before had turned their two ships into floating infernos, killed one of their colleagues and led to charges of gross negligence manslaughter for one of the captains. Hovering nearby — and to be found in hotel bars throughout this small port town on England’s north-east coast — were shirt-sleeved company counsels, union lawyers, salvagers and government investigators, all preparing for battle over who should pay for one of the worst maritime accidents in recent British history.  At the heart of the matter is why, last Monday, the cargo ship Solong drove smack into the Stena Immaculate, a tanker carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel.  The American, Russian and Filipino crew were evacuated to Grimsby. Then, not allowed to go home to recover, they spent the rest of last week being interviewed by police and government investigators. That evidence will eventually help settle an insurance claim which could take months or even years to settle — and could stretch into the hundreds of millions of pounds.  In the meantime, the costs of the environmental damage from the collision could also be rising, after new signs of pollution emerged Monday. THE CRASH AND THE CLEAN UP The investigation embroils three governments and the United States military.  The U.K. government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is leading, assisted by agencies from the flag states of the two ships, the U.S. and Portugal. The Pentagon is involved because the Stena Immaculate was on a U.S. military mission delivering its cargo to an aviation fuel depot in Yorkshire.  The MAIB’s initial inquiries showed the Solong “regularly used the route it took on the day of the collision” between the Scottish port of Grangemouth and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. At 1:30 a.m. last Monday, the cargo ship altered course, traveling at 16.4 knots (around 30 kilometres per hour). A little over eight hours later, a camera on board a nearby vessel captured the Solong smashing into the side of the Stena Immaculate. There was a huge flash of light.  Investigators said they would look into the “navigational practices on board both vessels; the manning and fatigue management; the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved; and the environmental conditions at the time.” The outcome will be highly significant to the insurers of the vessels. Like most large ships, the Stena Immaculate and Solong are covered by protection and indemnity clubs that pool insurance risk. Neither Steamship Mutual, which insures the Stena Immaculate, nor Skuld, that covers the Solong, would comment on the potential costs of the accident. The investigation embroils three governments and the United States military. | Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Salvagers have now boarded the ships to assess the damage. Two experts told POLITICO that, based on photographs, both vessels looked as though they may be damaged beyond repair. Credit rating agency Morningstar DBS said: “Both ships may be considered a total loss.”  Including the costs for containing and cleaning up pollution, Morningstar DBS estimated last week the hit to insurers could be between $100 million and $300 million (£77 million and £231 million.) The marine insurance industry could absorb the costs, said the analysts. But they warned it “raises concerns about the profitability” of the sector, coming on top of the Baltimore Bridge disaster last year and ongoing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Suez Canal. One of the chambers on the Stena Immaculate, containing 17,515 barrels of jet fuel, exploded on impact, setting fire to both vessels, which then burned for several days before fire crews were able to control the blaze. The U.S. owners of the tanker, Crowley, hailed the “heroic action” of the sailors who, it said, ensured cooling systems were switched on before abandoning ship, possibly saving the rest of the cargo tanks from catching alight. On Saturday, Vladimir Motin, the 59-year-old Russian captain of the Solong, appeared in Hull magistrates court charged with gross negligence manslaughter. He did not enter a plea. The Crown Prosecution Service also released the name of Mark Angelo Pernia, the 38-year-old Filipino sailor on the Solong killed in the collision. Beyond the damage to the vessels themselves and possible compensation for Pernia’s family, it is also not known what the cost of the environmental clean up will be. Crowley said it was “fully committed” to “environmental remediation” — but who ultimately pays for the clean up will depend on who is found to be at fault for the collision. Past MAIB investigations have taken several months, and in some cases years, before findings were published. Motin, who is from St. Petersburg, is due to appear at the Old Bailey criminal court in London on April 14. POLLUTION RISK On Monday, the U.K. coastguard said “a sheen” had been sighted on the ocean surface “that we now know to be plastic nurdles.” Nurdles are pellets of plastic used in the production of plastic products. Some had begun washing up on British shorelines, the coastguard said. They can present a risk to wildlife if eaten. Other debris from the collision may also have begun washing up on local beaches. A bright blue barrel washed ashore at Cleethorpes, just east of Grimsby, on Friday. The coastguard cordoned off the area. The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency said last week that there did “not appear to be any pollution” from either vessel. Analysts from the NGO Skytruth confirmed no slick was evident in satellite images of the vessels — although they also said rough weather could break up any oil spill, making it harder to see. But some on the ground told a different story. Two people with knowledge of the operations to rescue the stricken vessels told POLITICO there had been oil in the water around the vessels. One of them, a salver who would not give his name, said there was oil in the water, but that pollution levels were under control. The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency said last week that there did “not appear to be any pollution” from either vessel. | Dan Kitwood/Getty Images In an interview on Friday, Chief Executive of the Port of Grimsby East Martyn Boyers said vessels working on the response to the accident had been forced to wash oil from their hulls before entering the port. “When they were putting the fire out, all of the oil around the vessels was still in the water and it hadn’t dispersed or anything. So they were sat in it whilst they were trying to put the fire out. Which is some irony because it could have caught fire,” he said. The Grimsby Telegraph first reported the ships had required cleaning. Shortly after POLITICO enquired about this on Friday, the coastguard agency shifted its language. Where earlier in the week there “did not appear to be any pollution,” the statement that afternoon instead said: “There continues to be no cause for concern from pollution.” Unlike thick, heavy crude oil — which can cause devastating pollution, coating marine life in black scum — jet fuel is volatile, meaning most of the fuel may have burned off or evaporated.  But it is highly toxic. Reports of fuel in the water were “concerning,” said Shovonlal Roy, an environmental scientist at the University of Reading. Roy said high concentrations of toxic oil could “be very detrimental to microbial organisms” and lead to “cascading effects” through the food chain. “A large amount of toxic jet fuel and chemical dispersants can severely harm the delicate balance of marine life in the region. This will directly affect seabirds, larger marine animals and the fish population, and may trigger fish kills,” he said. The causes of the collision and its impact remain unclear — and those living closest to it want answers. “There’s a lot of questions about the whole episode,” said Boyer, the Grimsby port executive. “There’s so much sophisticated equipment and gear and satellite navigational aids. How on Earth did it happen?” Jo Shaw contributed reporting from Hull.