Captain of suspected Russian shadow tanker into French custody
ReutersFrench authorities have detained the Indian captain of a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker, days after the oil tanker was seized.
On Thursday, the French navy stopped the tanker Grinch, which President Emmanuel Macron said was “subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag.”
The Grinch was traveling across the Mediterranean from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk. It is currently moored under protection in a southern French port near Marseille.
Although Moscow has not yet commented, Macron said on Thursday that the stay-behind fleet was helping “finance Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
The Marseille prosecutor’s office said the 58-year-old captain was detained, while the rest of the ship’s crew (all Indians) were “kept on board”.
“The purpose of the investigation is to verify the validity of the flag used by the tanker,” prosecutors said. According to reports in the French press, it is stated that the ship was sailing under the flag of the Comoros Islands.
Authorities say that zones away from sea and air have been established around the anchorage area.
French Joint Staff of the Armed ForcesAnnouncement is being made vigil on Thursday“We are determined to uphold international law and ensure the effective implementation of sanctions,” Macron said.
Many Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russian energy following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In early January, British armed forces supported a US operation to seize a Russian-flagged tanker in the Atlantic. He had violated sanctions by transporting oil to Venezuela and Russia, US officials said.
Last October France seizes another sanctioned tanker, Boracayoff the west coast before being released a few days later.
Shadow fleets are becoming increasingly common; Venezuela, Iran and Russia have been accused of using them to evade oil sanctions.
Financial intelligence firm S&P Global estimates that one in five oil tankers worldwide are used to smuggle oil from sanctioned countries.
