France says it has seized an oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of being part of Russia's sanction-busting 'shadow fleet'.
French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the tanker, named the Grinch, was 'subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag'.
The French navy, with assistance from allies including the UK, boarded the vessel on Thursday morning between Spain and Morocco. Authorities confirmed that a search of the vessel raised suspicions regarding the legitimacy of its flag.
Russia's embassy in Paris has reported that it had not been alerted to the seizure.
Moscow's so-called shadow fleet consists of a clandestine network of tankers designed to evade Western sanctions on Russian oil exports by using older vessels with opaque ownership and insurance.
The Grinch was reportedly traveling from the Arctic port of Murmansk when intercepted, flying a Comoros flag according to ship tracking services.
Macron emphasized the need to uphold international law against such operations, stating, 'The activities of the shadow fleet contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine.' He indicated that the vessel had been redirected to enforce legal sanctions.
UK Defence Secretary John Healy noted that the Royal Navy contributed by tracking and monitoring the tanker, with HMS Dagger overseeing proceedings in the Straits of Gibraltar.
He affirmed the coalition's commitment to cutting off the funding that supports Putin's war efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his approval of the seizure, calling it 'the kind of resolve needed to prevent Russian oil from funding the war'. He suggested confiscation and sale of the oil aboard such tankers.
Earlier in January, British forces collaborated in a US operation to seize another Russian-flagged tanker accused of breaching sanctions by transporting oil for Venezuela and Russia.
As sanctions continue to tighten, the use of shadow fleets is rising. Analysts from S&P Global estimate that up to one in five oil tankers worldwide engage in smuggling oil from sanctioned nations.
