We found more than 50 shadow-fleet tankers in a public Telegram chat — and traced their links to Rosneft and 2Rivers
TriTrace Investigations has uncovered a new cluster comprising dozens of tankers. Here is how we found it — and what connects it to Rosneft and the 2Rivers group.
Tracing Russia’s shadow fleet is deliberately difficult. Vessels are repeatedly renamed, moved between jurisdictions, operated using forged documents and hidden behind opaque ownership structures. But sometimes those running the fleet leave clues in plain sight.
A shadow fleet exposed through Telegram
Legacy Marine, a Russian shipping company established in 2025, says it handles “technical issues related to the operation of vessels under the Russian flag”. Its headquarters are in Dubai. On paper, it owns two vessels and acts as the ISM manager for three others.
A much larger fleet came to light in the company’s public Telegram chat, where an administrator posted what they described as Legacy Marine’s “approximate fleet”.
TriTrace identified 45 of the 49 vessels listed. All 45 are tankers carrying crude oil, petroleum products or chemicals, and 43 are already subject to sanctions. The identified vessels alone could account for around 3–4% of the estimated global shadow fleet.
The vessels are owned and managed by Legacy Marine, several foreign shipping firms and six Russian companies registered in the names of three Legacy Marine employees: Alexander Nikiforov, Vasily Reznichenko and Vitaly Kazakov.
Even this list appears incomplete. Official records indicate additional vessels owned or managed by companies closely associated with Legacy Marine. The network may also be preparing to expand: two further Russian companies connected to it, Ocean Solutions LNG and Northern Bloom, were registered in June 2026.
The 2Rivers connection
Corporate records and leaked data point to links between this shipping network and 2Rivers, the Dubai-based oil-trading group formerly known as Coral Energy. Following sanctions imposed by the UK and the EU, 2Rivers announced in 2025 that it had begun the process of winding up its operations.
The most direct corporate link is Sergey Grib, the owner of Legacy Marine. In 2023, Grib acquired the Russian oil trader Omega Energy from Anar Madatli. The UK identifies Madatli as an owner or controller of Coral Energy, now 2Rivers, and as one of its directors.
Leaked data also shows that Grib used an email address on the domain of Hong Kong oil trader Bellatrix Energy. The EU identifies Bellatrix as part of a network organised around 2Rivers.
The apparent reach of structures linked to 2Rivers extends beyond oil trading and shipping. In 2025, the Ilsky refinery, one of the largest in southern Russia, was transferred to Orion. Leaked data identifies Orion’s owner, Anastasia Puchkova, as the wife of Khagani Mamedov, a former Coral Energy employee. Mamedov also owns Titan Energy Service, which he acquired from Madatli.
The Rosneft connection
According to Britain’s National Crime Agency, a network linked to 2Rivers traded more Russian oil than any other network in 2024, including most of Rosneft’s oil, and used more than 100 shadow-fleet tankers. The agency also reported personal relationships between senior figures in the network and Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin.
Legacy Marine has a further personnel link to Rosneft through Alexander Nikiforov, a former tanker captain. Leaked records show that Nikiforov joined Legacy Marine in 2025 as its deputy director for maritime safety, only months after holding a similar position at Rosnefteflot, a Rosneft subsidiary.
That same year, he registered two companies, Northern Vector and Fleet Synergy. They soon became the owners or managers of six tankers included on the Legacy Marine list.
Three of those vessels, Belomor, Onega and Barents, were transferred to Northern Vector’s ISM management at almost the same time in 2025. According to Rosnefteflot’s own corporate history, the tankers were originally built under different names in the 2000s, financed by Rosneft and intended for its operations. The three vessels have since moved between owners repeatedly, with the changes occurring at or around the same time.
Another company connected to Nikiforov, Volgaenergomarin, does not appear on the Legacy Marine list. It nevertheless provides ISM management for several tankers owned or managed by Prime Shipping, which forms part of Rosneft’s corporate structure.
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