The investigation, coordinated by the platform for investigative journalism “Follow the Money” in collaboration with media from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, revealed how Western shipowners earned over 6 billion dollars selling 230 aging tankers to Russia’s shadow fleet.
Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno, Vice-President responsible for the Prize, and representatives of the independent European-wide Jury of the Prize participated in the award ceremony held in the European Parliament’s Daphne Caruana Galizia Press Room in Strasbourg.
President Metsola said: “The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize is testament to the inextricable link between a free press, democracy and peace. At a time when authoritarian regimes try to silence the truth and distort reality, Europe stands united behind journalists exposing corruption and all those who refuse to be silenced”.
Between 21 May and 31 July 2025, hundreds of journalists from the 27 EU countries submitted their stories for consideration. Ten of the 316 submissions were shortlisted by the jury before the winner was chosen.
About the Winning Story
Led by Follow the Money in collaboration with 13 newsrooms and 40 journalists, this investigation reveals how Western shipowners earned over 6 billion dollars by selling 230 aging tankers to Russia’s shadow fleet.
Journalists uncovered that these vessels now operate under opaque ownership structures, often without adequate environmental insurance, therefore posing significant ecological risks.
Combining traditional investigative journalism with data analysis and satellite tracking, this work traces complex corporate ownership structures, analyses shipping patterns, and reveals the human cost of this trade through interviews with crew members working under hazardous conditions.
The investigation exposes a complex web of European involvement in Russia’s sanctions evasion, including eight shadow fleet crewing agencies operating within European borders, alongside the finding that twenty of such agencies are based in Ukraine.
The investigation traced crew members on sixty shadow fleet vessels to companies in European nations, revealing how ordinary European businesses have become entangled in Russia’s war economy.
The publishing partners for this investigation were Follow the Money (the Netherlands), De Tijd (Belgium), Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), WDR (Germany), NDR (Germany), The Times (UK), SourceMaterial (UK), IRPIMedia (Italy), OCCRP, NRK (Norway), Danwatch (Denmark), Solomon (Greece), Inside Story (Greece), Dialogue Earth.
About the Prize
The Prize is a tribute to the Maltese investigative journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was assassinated in October 2017. It rewards, on a yearly basis, outstanding journalism that promotes or defends the core principles and values of the European Union, such as human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights.
The Prize is open to professional journalists and teams of professional journalists of any nationality to submit in-depth stories that have been published or broadcast by a media outlet based in one of the 27 European Union member states.
The Prize itself, and the €20,000 prize money, demonstrate the European Parliament’s strong support for investigative journalism and the protection of journalists around the world.
Past winners
2021 – “The Pegasus Project”, coordinated by the Forbidden Stories
2022 – Documentary on “The Central African Republic under Russian Influence” by Clément Di Roma and Carol Valade (ARTE/France24/Le Monde)
2023 – Joint investigation on the Pylos migrant boat shipwreck (Solomon, in collaboration with Forensis, StrgF/ARD, and The Guardian)
2024 – Investigation on missing unaccompanied child migrants (Lost in Europe)
Who was Daphne Caruana Galizia?
Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist who reported extensively on corruption, money laundering, organised crime, sale of citizenship and the Maltese government’s links to the Panama Papers. Following harassment and threats, she was murdered in a car bomb explosion on 16 October 2017. The outcry over the authorities’ handling of her murder investigation ultimately prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Critical of failings in the investigation, in December 2019, MEPs called on the European Commission to take action.
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