Macron Links Oil Tanker Off France to Russia’s Shadow Fleet
French President Emmanuel Macron stated Wednesday that an oil tanker immobilized off the French Atlantic coast had committed “very serious wrongdoings” and was linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, which is evading Western sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The tanker, sailing under the flag of Benin, was last seen off the coast of Denmark and was cited by European naval experts as possibly being involved in drone flights over the country. French naval forces forcibly boarded the ship a few days ago at the request of prosecutors who suspected wrongdoing, a military official said Wednesday. The prosecutor’s office in the western French city of Brest opened a judicial investigation into the crew’s “refusal to cooperate” and “failure to justify the nationality of the vessel.”
The ship was ordered to stay in place pending further investigation, the military official said. French naval forces boarded the ship again Wednesday to provide food and fuel to the crew aboard, according to the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named discussing an ongoing investigation.
Macron suggested it was stopped by French authorities’ “intervention,” saying: “I think it’s a good thing that this work has been done and that we’ve been able to stop it.” He added, “There were some very serious wrongdoings made by this crew, which is why there are legal proceedings in the case.”
The ship left the Russian oil terminal in Primorsk near imo-9263198/”>imo-9263198/”>imo-9263198/”>Saint Petersburg on September 20, sailed off the coast of Denmark, and has stayed off the coast of the French western port of imo-9263198/”>imo-9263198/”>imo-9263198/”>Saint-Nazaire since Sunday, according to the Marine Traffic monitoring website.
Macron‘s comments come as European Union leaders are grappling with the issue of Russia’s shadow fleet, which is estimated to be worth tens of billions of euros for Moscow. The fleet represents around 40% of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and has been evading sanctions by sailing under flags from non-sanctioning countries.
The Russian Embassy in Paris did not respond to requests for comment. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also declined to comment on specific investigations but acknowledged the existence of a “shadow fleet” and the need for international cooperation to combat it.
This latest incident highlights the ongoing issue of Russia’s shadow fleet, which has been the subject of increased scrutiny in recent months. In December 2022, a Russian oil tanker dubbed the imo-9329760/”>imo-9329760/”>imo-9185528/”>imo-9185528/”>imo-9185528/”>Eagle S triggered a nationwide alarm in Finland after it was suspected of having deliberately severed a critical undersea electric cable. A subsequent investigation revealed that the incident was not an isolated case and that a major Russian oil company had hidden its ownership of the tanker behind layers of shell companies to evade Western sanctions.
Following the incident, NATO launched “Baltic Sentry,” deploying ships and planes to monitor the shadow fleet and safeguard critical seabed infrastructure.
Original Article: Macron says oil tanker off France is linked to Russia’s shadow fleet and committed “serious wrongdoings” — Cbsnews