In brief
Shortly after British forces boarded the untaxed vessel Smyrtos, the Russian‑flagged tanker Forwarder left Primorsk and entered the English Channel on June 18. Ship‑tracking data from BBC Verify shows the vessel headed for Dongying, China, while a Royal Navy warship, HMS Tyne, appears nearby. The Forwarder, sanctioned by the UK, US and EU since 2025, is part of a clandestine fleet that carries 75 % of sanctioned Russian oil. Experts say a direct boarding by Western fleets is unlikely, though Russian warships may escort the tanker. Highlighting the shift in maritime enforcement, recent records show many sanctioned vessels altering their routes to avoid the Channel after the Smyrtos incident.
Russia’s 'shadow fleet' tanker Forwarder slipped into the English Channel on Wednesday evening, the first to do so since UK forces boarded the defiant vessel Smyrtos in the early hours of Sunday.
Tracking data from BBC Verify shows the 35‑metre, Russian‑flagged tanker left Primorsk on 12 June after loading oil, and set sail toward Dongying, China. According to the trajectory, it entered the Channel and then continued southwards, passing close to a Royal Navy warship, HMS Tyne, which was operating in the same area.
Forwarder has been sanctioned by the UK, US and EU since 2025 after the British government accused it of smuggling Russian oil. The vessel has changed its name twice since being flagged as Russian, and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed that the ship’s change of designation was not a false flag but a legal re‑registration.
Experts say that Western navies are unlikely to board the Forwarder directly. “Because the ship is Russian‑flagged and possibly escorted by a Russian warship, a boarding would be a step up in escalation,” said former Belgian naval officer Frederik Van Lokeren.
The incident is part of a larger pattern. Since the Smyrtos operation, data show many sanctioned tankers have rerouted to avoid the English Channel, opting for the Irish coast instead. In total, almost 200 shadow‑fleet vessels have traversed the waterway since the UK announced it would begin to intercept sanctioned ships.
Meanwhile, a NATO‑supplied Russian frigate, Admiral Grigorovich, was reported on Tuesday firing warning shots toward a British yacht near the Channel, though it remains unclear whether the frigate was escorting the Forwarder.
BBC Verify has sought comments from the MoD and other defence officials on the incident. The story signals a potential shift in naval enforcement across the UK’s maritime borders and raises questions about future interactions between Western and Russian naval forces.
