Russian Shadow Fleet
Debate between Lord Garnier and Lord Coaker(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
The noble Lord will not expect me to say too much on, as I understand it, an ongoing incident that clearly is potentially very serious, as I do not know the full facts of what has happened. I know it has been reported; I have just found out about it through a text on my phone, so I say to the noble Lord that he will realise why I do not really want to say much about it, given that I may, unfortunately, just add to the problem. It is certainly a developing story, as they say, and will need to be reflected on. As soon as I go back to the MoD, I will ask for a full briefing on what is actually going on.
Lord Garnier (Con)
My Lords, does the Minister know whether the Russian shadow fleet, in so far as it is coming in and out of northern Europe, is going into the Russian Baltic or to the Russian Arctic? If the Russian Baltic, the strait between Sweden and Denmark is a lot narrower than the Strait of Hormuz, so what are we doing to interdict the ingress and egress of Russian shadow oil tankers through that strait? That seems to be a much more practical way of dealing with things with our allies in NATO in Scandinavia and Germany. Equally, what are we doing to patrol the north Atlantic in the Arctic region to prevent ships coming in and out of, for example, Archangel?
Lord Coaker (Lab)
Clearly, we work with our international allies and colleagues, whether it be in Scandinavia or anywhere else in Europe, essentially to deal with the sort of issue that the noble and learned Lord has raised. However, he will know that the UK is sending its aircraft carrier, HMS “Prince of Wales”, up into the north Atlantic with allies and friends in order to assert the rule of law in and around the seas. I think that is an important statement of where the UK Government, with our friends and allies, are with respect to all of this as well. Clearly, we work with others to ensure that, wherever the shadow fleet operates, we do all we can to ensure that we take the necessary action to prevent it happening.