French Navy Seizes Russia-Linked Tanker in the Atlantic
The French Navy has boarded and seized a Russia-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic. The vessel is under international sanctions, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
On Sunday morning, the French Navy seized the Tagor, an oil tanker that departed from Russia, Macron wrote on in a post on X today.
The operation of the boarding and seizure was carried out on the high seas in the Atlantic with the support of France’s allies, including the UK, the French President said.
France is constantly seeking to prevent shadow fleet vessels from shipping oil whose revenues finance the war in Ukraine, France’s Macron said.
“It is unacceptable that ships circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea, and finance the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than 4 years,” Macron added.
These sanctioned tankers of the shadow fleet, which do not respect the basic rules of maritime navigation, also pose environmental threats, the French President concluded.
Separately, the Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic also said on Monday that the French Navy had intercepted and seized a Russia-linked oil tanker 400 nautical miles off the Brittany coast. The tanker had departed from Murmansk in Russia, the prefecture said, without naming the vessel.
The ship was suspected of flying a false flag. After boarding it and examining the documents, the Navy confirmed the vessel was indeed flying a false flag. The Navy has filed a report with the public prosecutor’s office in Brest, which has jurisdiction on the matter, the French authorities said.
The tanker is currently being escorted by French Navy ships to an anchorage point for further checks and verifications.
Russian oil revenues, however, have risen in recent weeks, as the U.S. waivers on sales of Russian oil already loaded on tankers have allowed Asian buyers, especially India, to access the sanctioned crude amid the Middle East supply crisis.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com