The French Navy has boarded and seized an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” breaking international sanctions.
French president Emmanuel Macron revealed details of yesterday’s (Thursday’s) operation on social media platform X. He said the tanker, named Grinch, had sailed from Russia and “was suspected of flying a false flag.”
He stressed the operation, which according to media reports was carried out at the western edge of the Med, not far from Gibraltar, had been carried out “in strict compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
The BBC has reported that U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey had confirmed a Royal Navy patrol vessel, HMS Cutlass, had assisted by tracking and monitoring the tanker as it transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
As per marine tracking website VesselFinder, Grinch is a 250m tanker flying under the Comoros flag. The vessel had reportedly sailed out of the Arctic port of Murmansk.
President Macron’s statement noted: “A judicial investigation has been opened. The vessel has been diverted. We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions.
“The activities of the “shadow fleet” contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine.”
The seizure was welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who suggested confiscating and selling the oil on the vessel. On X he commented: “Thank you, France!…This is exactly the kind of resolve needed to ensure that Russian oil no longer finances Russia’s war.
“Russian tankers operating near European shores must be stopped. Sanctions against the entire infrastructure of the shadow fleet must be tough. Vessels must be apprehended.”
Since November Ukraine has targeted seven suspected shadow fleet tankers in the Black Sea, including three attacks in the last fortnight. America has reportedly seized seven tankers since December, five of them linked to Russia.
- You can read more on President Macron’s X account and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s X account