On Monday (June 1), French authorities confirmed that the French Navy, along with allies including the UK, intercepted and seized a suspected “shadow fleet” oil tanker allegedly transporting oil for Russia in the Atlantic Ocean.
The tanker named “Tagor” departed from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk and was boarded for inspection on Sunday (May 31) in international waters about 400 nautical miles west of the Brittany coast of France. French officials suspect that the vessel, which hoisted the flag of Madagascar to conceal its identity, is part of the Russian “shadow fleet”.
This large fleet consisting of unidentified old tankers is specifically used to evade sanctions imposed by the West in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Attempting to evade international sanctions, violating maritime laws, and providing funding for Russia’s over four-year-long war against Ukraine is unacceptable,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on the social media platform X.
Macron emphasized that these vessels disregarding basic navigation protocols pose a threat to marine environments and the safety of everyone. He simultaneously released a video of military personnel boarding and seizing the Russian tanker from a helicopter.
According to reports, this joint operation received support from partners including the UK. The British government recently expanded the authorization of its military to detain Russian vessels evading international sanctions at sea.
Regarding this incident, officials from the Russian Embassy in Paris revealed that the captain of the “Tagor” is a Russian citizen. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov condemned the seizure by France and other countries as “illegal” and almost akin to “acts of international piracy”.
This latest event marks the fourth time this year that France has detained shadow vessels linked to Russia. Currently, European capitals are intensifying efforts to combat Russia’s circumvention of Western sanctions. In March of this year, a French court sentenced a captain for illegally steering a Russian vessel.
Furthermore, countries outside the EU are taking action as well. Swedish prosecutors announced in May that the Swedish Coast Guard boarded a suspected oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet and apprehended the vessel’s Chinese captain.
The French Atlantic Maritime Department stated in a release that the “Tagor” is currently being escorted by French naval vessels to a port anchorage in northwestern France for further investigation.