French authorities have seized an oil tanker suspected of being part of Russia’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet and placed it under naval guard off the southern French coast. The vessel, named The Grinch, was intercepted on Thursday, January 22nd, in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted the tanker to the Gulf of Fos, near Marseille, where it remained anchored on Sunday, January 25th, under close surveillance. According to the regional maritime prefecture, the ship has been placed at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag.
The captain and crew are expected to be questioned as part of the inquiry. An AFP photographer observed the tanker anchored around 500 metres off the town of Martigues, with a French navy vessel and two gendarmerie patrol boats stationed nearby. Authorities have also established maritime and air exclusion zones around the site.
The 249-metre-long tanker appears under the name The Grinch on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow-fleet vessels, while it is listed as Carl in European Union and United States sanctions databases. The EU has sanctioned nearly 600 vessels suspected of being used to circumvent restrictions on Russian oil exports.
The detention marks the second such operation by France in recent months. In late September, French authorities seized the Russian-linked vessel Boracay, an action denounced by Russian president Vladimir Putin as “piracy.” The Boracay’s captain, a Chinese national, is scheduled to stand trial in France in February.
