Tom Wilson

Senior energy correspondent Tom Wilson’s five month investigation into the acquisition of a fleet of ageing oil tankers was a masterpiece of specialist journalism that lifted the veil of secrecy cloaking Russia’s shadow fleet for the first time. Since western restrictions on Russian oil exports were introduced in response to its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has assembled a fleet of more than 400 such vessels currently moving some 4mn barrels of oil a day beyond the reach of the sanctions and generating billions of dollars a year in additional revenue for its war. The west has responded by imposing restrictions on individual tankers but until Wilson’s investigation western officials had struggled to identify who owns the ships, how they were acquired or who oversees their operations.

Through the retrieval of corporate records from multiple jurisdictions and the painstaking development of sources over many months, Wilson was able to show how Russia’s second largest oil producer had used a UK accountant and a Dubai-based British shipping magnate to acquire and operate 25 ageing vessels, while hiding its role from public view. In doing so he also uncovered the role western law firms and ship brokers, some based in London, have played in facilitating the expansion of Russia's shadow fleet at a time when the European governments have pledged to crack down on its operations.

Together, the 25 ships have transported some 120mn barrels of oil from Russia since they were originally acquired, which amounts, at a conservative estimate, to as much as $7.2bn in exports.

The investigation, which was one of the FT’s most read, had an immediate impact. Shares in the London-listed shipbroker at the heart of many of the transactions fell 11 per cent in the two days following the report. A week later, the UK government responded by imposing sanctions on six of the tankers identified in the investigation. “I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal,” UK foreign secretary David Lammy said.

Shipping is a sector that is rarely covered by the mainstream media. Wilson’s reporting brought a detailed account of the discrete workings of the industry to a much wider audience. “This is a fantastic investigation, across geographies and languages in a sector known for obfuscation,” said one FT reader. “Investigative journalism at its best,” said another.

Wilson faced strident objections to his reporting from lawyers representing some of the individuals named in the article. He was able to press ahead with publication because of the quality of his reporting and the clarity with which it was presented on the page. Wilson has spent much of the last three years investigating the mechanisms built by Moscow to help circumvent restrictions on its energy exports, publishing several revelatory articles on the topic. This investigation can be read as a continuation of that body of work, which continues to help readers and officials understand how Russia funds its war.