You are using an outdated browser For a better experience using this site, please upgrade to a modern web browser. Subscribe Get Daily Email Subscribe --> Contact Us Sign in Home News & Features Compliance Costs Bunker Prices Bunker Intelligence World News Latest Features World Americas EMEA Asia/Pacific Home News & Features World INSIGHT: New EU Sanctions Package Spells Trouble for Bunker Compliance Teams INSIGHT: New EU Sanctions Package Spells Trouble for Bunker Compliance Teams by Christopher Morgan, Global Head of Credit & Compliance, Shipergy Friday June 12, 2026 Tweet Follow @shipandbunker Chris Morgan is global head of credit and compliance at Shipergy. Image Credit: Shipergy Us credit and compliance professionals have been warning for a couple of years that, although we haven’t had a bunker company added to the sanctions list yet, the past does not guarantee the future, and that at some point the sanctions searchlight was going to shine on bunker companies. Some bunker traders will be blinking into its harsh, uncompromising glare this morning with more confidence than others. Historically, the EU has specifically excluded bunkering sanctioned ships or ships with sanctioned cargo on board as being designated as facilitating sanctioned trades, but that seems to have changed as of the announcement of the EU's  Package 21 . “ You can still be supplying a 'dark fleet' vessel because of what she was doing previously that may not even be flagged or obvious It is the 'shadow fleet' they are targeting, and the grey area over what that nebulous classification means in practicality is the sticky point for bunker traders. What does it mean? What does the EU think it means? How can you tell? It is now no longer enough to check the IMO number of the vessel you are supplying to ensure it isn't on any of the sanctions lists. 'Dark fleet' for us now means any vessel moving sanctioned cargo, or having historically done so, even if she or her owners, managers