US EditionFrance: Captain of Tanker Linked to Russian 'Shadow Fleet' Charged
The Chinese captain faces charges for defying French naval orders amid efforts to enforce EU sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet, which includes up to 1,000 vessels, officials say.
- On Thursday, October 2, prosecutors said French authorities charged the captain, a Chinese national, of the Boracay with refusing to obey naval orders and ordered him to appear in Brest next February.
- To evade sanctions, Moscow relies on the 'shadow fleet' of between 600 and 1,000 ships, which makes up 40% of Russia's war effort, Macron said.
- After leaving Primorsk, Russia on 20 September, the Boracay sailed through the Baltic Sea and English Channel before French military personnel boarded it earlier this week, finding no flag and inconsistent nationality claims; it was detained earlier this year by Estonia for lacking a valid flag.
- The second captain was released without charges, while Vladimir Putin called the interdiction 'piracy' and Emmanuel Macron warned, `You kill the business model by detaining, even for days or weeks, these vessels and forcing them to organise themselves differently`.
- The link to last week's drone incursion remains unresolved, though The Maritime Executive suspects the 244-metre vessel The Boracay was off Denmark from September 22 to 25 and due in Vadinar on October 20.
13 Articles
13 Articles
France to prosecute captain of suspected Russia oil ship
French authorities announced Thursday that they will bring to trial the captain of the ship Boracay, a suspected Russian oil transport vessel that has been blacklisted by the EU as a part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” which circumvents sanctions placed on Russian oil exports. Officials boarded the Benin-flagged ship on September 27 off the coast of Denmark after crew members failed to confirm the vessel’s nationality and refused to cooperate. The …
The commander of the Russian phantom tanker "Boracay", arrested by the French authorities, will be judged solely "refusal to comply".
The commander of the Russian phantom oil tanker Boracay, arrested by the French authorities, will be tried for "refusal to comply" by the Brest court on 23 February 2026, announced on Thursday 2 October the Brest prosecutor's office at the end of his custody.
[Yomiuri Shimbun] [Paris - Uechi Hiromi] According to AFP, French investigative authorities revealed on the 1st that they had detained two crew members of a tanker known as the "Shadow Fleet," which transports Russian crude oil to evade sanctions. Both are Chinese nationals, and the captain of the ship has been indicted, while the other has been released.
France to try Chinese captain of intercepted Russian shadow fleet vessel
The captain and first mate of the Boracay were detained on Tuesday over refusing to provide evidence of nationality or cooperate with French authorities, according to the public prosecutor's office.
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