France has seized an oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of being part of Russia’s sanction-evading “shadow fleet”, according to French officials.
President Emmanuel Macron said the vessel, named The Grinch, was subject to international sanctions and was suspected of operating under a false flag. The tanker was intercepted on Thursday morning between Spain and Morocco by the French navy, with support from allied forces including the UK.
French maritime authorities said inspections carried out after boarding the vessel confirmed concerns over the legitimacy of its registration. The ship had been sailing under a Comoros flag, according to vessel-tracking websites, after departing from Murmansk in northern Russia. Russia’s embassy in Paris said it had not been informed of the seizure.
Russia’s so-called shadow fleet refers to a network of ageing oil tankers with opaque ownership and insurance structures used to bypass Western sanctions imposed on Russian oil exports following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Announcing the operation on X, Macron said France was determined to uphold international law and enforce sanctions effectively, adding that shadow fleet activities contribute to financing Russia’s war against Ukraine. He said the tanker had been diverted following the operation.
UK Defence Secretary John Healy confirmed that the Royal Navy had provided tracking and monitoring support, with HMS Dagger observing the tanker as it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. He said the UK and its allies were intensifying efforts to cut off funding for what he described as Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. The UK has sanctioned 544 vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the seizure, calling it the kind of decisive action needed to stop Russian oil revenues from funding the war. He suggested confiscating and selling the oil carried by such vessels.
The operation follows a series of similar actions by Western countries. Earlier this month, British forces supported a US operation to seize a Russian-flagged tanker in the Atlantic accused of breaching sanctions by transporting oil for Venezuela and Russia. Moscow condemned that move, arguing that no state had the right to use force against vessels lawfully registered elsewhere.
In October, France seized another sanctioned tanker, the Boracay, off its west coast before releasing it days later. Shadow fleets are increasingly used by countries such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela to evade oil sanctions. Financial intelligence firm S&P Global estimates that one in five oil tankers worldwide is involved in smuggling oil from sanctioned states.
