Captain of Russia's shadow fleet jailed in France
Photo: Oil tanker (Getty Images)
A criminal court in Brest has sentenced the captain of the oil tanker Boracay to one year in prison and a €150,000 fine. The 39-year-old Chinese national, Chen Zhangjie, was sentenced in absentia, Le Figaro reports.
What happened in September 2025
On September 27, French naval forces detected a 244-meter tanker without a visible flag in international waters near the island of Ushant (Brittany). The vessel was carrying Russian oil to India.
When the military attempted to conduct an inspection, the captain refused to comply. As deputy prosecutor Gabriel Rollin said during the hearing, French servicemen "encountered particular hostility from the captain," which forced them to carry out "a dangerous maneuver that could have led to an accident."
Court ruling
At a hearing on February 23, 2026, prosecutors requested a one-year prison sentence and a €150,000 fine for the captain. On Monday, the court upheld those demands.
Captain Chen Zhangjie was not present when the verdict was announced. The court issued a warrant for his arrest.
False-flag vessel and links to Russia
The investigation found that the tanker was operating under a false Benin flag to conceal its true affiliation. Two employees of a Russian private security company were on board, tasked with monitoring the crew and gathering intelligence.
The vessel was also suspected of being linked to drone flights that disrupted air traffic in Denmark in September 2025, although this aspect was not examined by the French court.
Defense position
The defendant’s lawyer, Henri de Richemont, argued for acquittal, stating that the events took place in international waters and therefore the captain should not be tried in a French court. The defense cited the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay), insisting the case should be handled by a Chinese court.
After the incident, the tanker was renamed Phoenix and is now sailing under the Russian flag.
Russia’s shadow fleet consists of vessels used to transport oil to circumvent international sanctions.
They often sail under the flags of countries that are not part of sanctions coalitions, change names, switch off transponders, and use other methods to conceal their routes and cargo.
The European Union is discussing tightening sanctions against vessels transporting Russian oil in violation of restrictions — ports that receive such tankers could also come under sanctions. The United Kingdom, for its part, has announced it will begin intercepting shadow fleet tankers in its waters.
Tensions around the transportation of Russian oil are also rising in the Black Sea: recently, a drone attacked a Turkish tanker carrying Russian oil.
