Ukrainian sailors are using Telegram to avoid getting caught smuggling oil to Russia

This story was originally appeared in Hakai Magazine and part of it is Climate Desk Collaboration.

A new video has emerged on the social media network Telegram: footage of a smoking area on a large ship. The curtains are torn, the lights are broken, and the floor is strewn with ash and glass. “This is how they drink on our ship,” said the young Ukrainian deck worker filming the scene, turning to show furniture thrown into the corner of the room. “I’m terrified.”

A Telegram administrator asks the deck worker if he can share the ship’s name. They change the ship’s name several times a year, Felix Bondar, whose own name has been changed for this story, replies. “I don’t even know what to name you,” he writes in Ukrainian. “Our ship was originally called Garudabut in Venezuela, we were Matador And then Shoyo Maru,

The chat has been flooded with similar messages in recent months: stories of dangerously run-down vessels, operators withholding pay, crew members abandoning them, and shipowners changing ship names or manipulating their automatic identification systems (AIS) — the global network meant to help ships recognise each other.

There are more than 8,000 sailors in the Telegram group. Some are fresh out of maritime college, others are experienced captains. All are drawn to the group by a desire to stay safe at sea. By telling their stories and naming names – whenever possible – these sailors are gathering information about problematic ships, ranging from poor quality food to ships where the crew often faces delayed pay.

But in recent years, as more sailors find yourself inadvertently involved In the so-called shadow fleet — smuggling oil for Iran, Russia or other clients hit by tough sanctions to restrict oil sales — a social media whisper network has developed. As well as a place to find a reputable employer, it has become something else: a way for sailors to avoid helping the other side of a war.

Life is one Being a contracted seafarer has never been easy. Workers often move from ship to ship, contract to country and vice versa. But the rise of the shadow fleet – as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine – poses a new kind of risk.

About a year and a half ago, in early 2023, Bonder sought out the sailors’ Telegram network because he had encountered a particular problem. Booked for a job by a Ukraine-based crewing agency, Bonder discovered that the name of the ship he was hiring had been painted over, and the AIS was once again unplugged. A note above the device warned sailors not to turn it on.

After a six-month voyage to smuggle sanctioned oil to China, Bondar said the crew was told their next mission would begin in Kozmino, Russia. Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine began while it was at sea and has been ongoing for more than four months. Bondar and the other Ukrainians aboard the ship refused to smuggle Russian oil. The ship’s operator reportedly fired them all, and dropped them off at the nearest port in China.