French Navy Seizes Russian Shadow Fleet Oil Tanker

Sunday the French Navy intercepted a Russian oil tanker which was under sanction as part of Russia’s shadow fleet. Macron announced the operation in a statement on X.

La Marine nationale a arraisonné hier matin un nouveau pétrolier sous sanctions internationales en provenance de Russie : le Tagor. Notre détermination est constante et totale.

Cette intervention a été effectuée en Atlantique, en haute mer,… pic.twitter.com/zxEslYjbUE

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2026

The French Navy intercepted a new tanker under international sanctions yesterday morning, originating from Russia: the Tagor. Our determination is steadfast and unwavering.

This operation was carried out in the Atlantic, in international waters, with the support of several partners including the United Kingdom, in strict compliance with the law of the sea.

It is unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea, and fund the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than 4 years.

These vessels, which fail to adhere to the most basic rules of maritime navigation, also pose a threat to the environment and to everyone’s safety.

A UK helicopter was involved but only to monitor the operation.

An MoD spokesperson said a helicopter which had been on board HMS Somerset provided “tracking and monitoring in support of the French operation”.

“Alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response to shadow vessels – to choke off the funds that fuel Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

“These vessels, which fail to adhere to the most basic rules of maritime navigation, also pose a threat to the environment and to everyone’s safety,” he said.

Needless to say, Russia is not happy about this. Partly because it takes this ship out of action and partly because they got caught.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said of the ship’s seizure: “We consider these acts as illegal, they border on international piracy … Russia is taking measures to ensure the safety of its cargo.”

The ship was falsely flying a Cameroonian flag and was heading towards Limbe, a coastal city in the west of the African country, a spokesperson for the French maritime prefecture told Agence France-Presse.

The Atlantic maritime prefecture said: “This operation was aimed at checking the nationality of a vessel suspected of flying a false flag. After the inspection team boarded the vessel, an examination of the documents confirmed suspicions regarding the irregularity of the flag flown. In accordance with international law and at the request of the public prosecutor, the vessel was diverted.”…

The captain of the vessel is, according to preliminary information, a Russian citizen, the embassy said.

This is the fourth time the French have boarded a shadow fleet tanker. Usually the tankers are fined for flying false flags and then allowed to leave.

The shadow fleet vessels frequently change the flags they fly, a practice known as flag-hopping, or use invalid registrations in an attempt to escape tracking. Since September, France has boarded three other ships believed to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet. The vessels were allowed to sail after their owners paid fines.

The fines are nothing compared to the amount of money Russia is getting from the sale of the cargo. Russia is gaming the system to avoid sanctions and Europe is basically letting them get away with it. If they want to really put an end to the war in Ukraine, they should start holding these ships for 3 months every time one is found to be sailing under a false flag. 

Russia has several hundred of these shadow fleet tankers so losing a dozen won’t stop their illicit sales of oil, but it might cut into Putin’s profits enough that he would feel it.

Finally, this story isn’t directly related but Russia is also have some problems delivering diesel and gasoline to Crimea, the Ukrainian territory Putin seized in 2014. Recently, gas stations announced they would be giving out vouchers which allowed people to buy only 5 gallons at a time until the problem is resolved. But one major chain has already said it can’t keep up with the vouchers.

TES, which operates 115 gas stations across Crimea, said on its website on Monday that its “voucher purchasing service is unavailable at this time.”

The suspension follows a series of emergency rationing measures first introduced on May 22 to prevent panic buying. Additional limits have since been introduced, with public utilities and social service vehicles receiving priority at the pump.

Ordinary motorists who want to purchase AI-92 gasoline face a strict cap of 20 liters (5.2 gallons) per vehicle, and filling jerry cans or canisters has been banned entirely to prevent hoarding.

The shortages in Crimea aren’t related to the tanker seizures. Instead, they seem to be related to the inability to safely deliver gasoline from Russia to Crimea and the fact that Ukraine has repeatedly bombed Russian refineries. It’s difficult to refine gasoline when your facilities are on fire.

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