UK armed forces board Russian shadow fleet tanker in English Channel
British armed forces captured a Russian stay-behind fleet ship in the Channel early on Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer said.
In the first operation of its kind led by the UK, Royal Marine commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency boarded a sanctioned oil tanker during a six-hour operation, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
The Smyrtos ship will be temporarily moved to an anchorage off the south coast of England and monitored for any environmental or safety concerns.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the operation was supported by aircraft from the Maritime Air Group (Chinooks, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat), an RAF P-8 aircraft and HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.
Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement: “This operation deals another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s (President Vladimir) war in Ukraine that they cannot hide.
“I want to express my gratitude to everyone involved, including our armed forces and law enforcement who keep this country safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Defense Minister Dan Jarvis said: “Operations like this require skill, professionalism and courage. I pay tribute to our armed forces personnel and everyone involved.
“Russia relies on its stay-behind fleet to finance the conflict in Ukraine, and our ban deals a blow to Putin’s illegal war.”
Britain and other European countries accuse Russia of using foreign-flagged oil tankers to export oil, allowing Moscow to continue to benefit from lucrative energy trade despite international sanctions.
Shadow fleet ships typically have murky ownership structures and are often poorly regulated; Aging tankers are prone to spills, mechanical failures and leaks.
Ships have a variety of tricks to avoid identification and liability, and they continue to grow as blacklisted ships are replaced by cheap, old ships.
The fleet uses tactics such as ship-to-ship transfers in international waters where there is less oversight by port control authorities. This makes it easier to evade attention and avoid sanctions.
They also use spoofing, including fake ship identification numbers, deliberately false location data, and using flag countries with less oversight, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence and the Finnish Coast Guard.
Most tankers belong to front companies; start-ups are buying and selling rapidly on ships, making it even more difficult to prove accountability.
