France detains Russia's shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean
Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
French military forces carried out a special operation on January 22 and detained a shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that was heading from Russia, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
“This morning, the French Navy boarded an oil tanker coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag,” he said.
Macron added that the operation was carried out in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea with the assistance of some of France’s allies, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. An investigation is underway, the vessel has been detained, and is heading to a French port.
“We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions. The activities of the “shadow fleet” contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine,” the French president added.
Photo: Emmanuel Macron / X
Fighting the shadow fleet
The shadow fleet is the name given to a fleet consisting of hundreds of outdated oil tankers with dubious registration. These vessels transport sanctioned cargoes, including Russian oil, to China and India. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the scale of the fleet increased. Analysts estimate it at least 900 vessels.
Recently, the United States has been actively detaining Russian shadow fleet tankers. On January 22, the US armed forces detained the oil tanker Sagitta in the Caribbean Sea, which is under sanctions and is part of Russia’s shadow fleet.
On January 15, the US Southern Command said its military seized the sanctioned tanker Veronica, which is linked to Venezuela.
On January 7, US forces detained the Russian vessel Bella 1 (now Marinera) in the North Atlantic. The reason for the detention was violations of US sanctions. On the same day, it became known that the US seized another tanker from Russia’s shadow fleet in the Caribbean Sea — the vessel Sophia. In total, with the detention of the tanker Sagitta, there are already seven known cases of the seizure of shadow fleet vessels.
In Russia, US actions caused hysteria. There were claims about “piracy” and “violations of international norms.” One State Duma deputy even said that it is necessary to give a “military response” and “sink a couple of ships” of the American fleet.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is fighting the shadow fleet much more radically. On January 13, in the Black Sea near the Russian coast, unidentified drones attacked three oil tankers that officially belong to Greece but in reality are vessels of the shadow fleet.
On January 8, the media reported that near the city of Kastamonu on Türkiye's coast, a drone attacked the oil tanker Elbus, which was in the Black Sea under the flag of Palau.
In December, two Russian shadow fleet tankers — Kairos and Virat — were hit by the Security Service of Ukraine by Sea Baby drones with an enhanced warhead.
