‘Zombie’ oil tanker sails in Channel as fears of Russian retaliation grow

Gonzalo Saiz Erausquin, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, described it as a “zombie ship” because it was using a “dead vessel identity”. He said: “It is broadcasting the IMO number of a vessel that has been scrapped or de-registered — essentially attempting to disguise itself as a different unsanctioned vessel. It has changed names and flags and claims a different identify to avoid detection.”