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 said the tanker, named the Grinch, was subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag.
The French navy, with the assistance of allies including the UK, boarded the vessel on Thursday morning between Spain and Morocco. French maritime authorities stated that a search of the vessel confirmed suspicions regarding its flag.
Russia's embassy in Paris remarked that it had not been informed of the seizure.
Moscow's shadow fleet is a network of tankers used to evade sanctions on Russian oil exports by shipping it on aged tankers with obscure ownership.
The intercepted Grinch was traveling from the Arctic port of Murmansk in northern Russia, allegedly under a Comoros flag, according to maritime tracking websites.
Announcing the seizure on social media, Macron emphasized, We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions. He noted that the shadow fleet's operations contribute to financing Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
UK Defence Secretary John Healy highlighted that the actions taken are part of stepping up the response to shadow vessels that fuel Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with the UK having imposed sanctions on 544 Russian shadow fleet vessels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky supported the seizure, urging stronger actions against vessels that facilitate Russian oil shipments and calling for confiscation of oil carried by such tankers.
Many Western nations enforced sanctions on Russian energy after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Earlier this month, British armed forces aided a U.S. operation that seized a Russian-flagged tanker, accused of violating sanctions.
This event marks a growing trend of seizures against shadow fleets that bypass sanctions on oil from countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.
