France Arrests Captain of 'Shadow Fleet' Tanker

UPDATE Oct 2, 2025 9:50 AM CDT

The captain of a suspected "shadow fleet" oil tanker intercepted off France has been taken into custody and will go on trial in February, authorities confirmed Thursday. Prosecutors say the captain, a Chinese national, and the first officer were arrested after the French navy boarded the Boracay, though the first officer was later released, Reuters reports. Prosecutors say they were detained for refusing to comply with authorities or show evidence's of the ship's nationality. The ship is believed to be part of Russia's fleet of sanctions-busting oil tankers. Based on its movements, experts believe it may also be linked to mysterious drone flights over Denmark, reports Le Monde. French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that the tanker had committed "very serious wrongdoings."

Oct 1, 2025 12:45 PM CDT

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that an oil tanker off the French coast had committed "very serious wrongdoings" and is linked to Russia's shadow fleet, which is avoiding Western sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine. The tanker was sailing last week off the coast of Denmark and was cited by European naval experts as possibly being involved in drone flights over the country, the AP reports. Investigators suspect drones spotted over airports and military sites in Denmark were launched from a ship. The Brest prosecutor's office said a judicial investigation has been opened into the crew's "refusal to cooperate" and "failure to justify the nationality of the vessel."

The ship left the Russian oil terminal in Primorsk near Saint Petersburg on Sept. 20, sailed off Denmark, and has stayed off the coast of the French western port of Saint-Nazaire since Sunday, according to the Marine Traffic monitoring website. The Guardian reports that the ship was sailing to India, carrying 750,000 barrels of crude oil, when it was intercepted by a French naval vessel on Sunday.

• "I think it's a good thing that this work has been done and that we've been able to stop it," Macron said on the sidelines of a summit of European Union leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark. "There were some very serious wrongdoings made by this crew, which is why there are legal proceedings in the case." He didn't elaborate, and France's maritime authorities didn't immediately respond to a request for details.

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• Macron said the incident highlights "the existence and the reality of a phenomenon that we have been describing and denouncing for a long time," the "notorious shadow fleet" that represents tens of billions of dollars for Russia's budget and finances an estimated 40% of Russia's war effort.
• Macron said between 600 and 1,000 ships are transporting Russian oil and gas despite Western sanctions.
• The tanker's name has changed multiple times. It was sailing under the flag of Benin and appears on a list of ships targeted by EU sanctions against Russia. It is currently known as "Pushpa," but it was called "Boracay" last week and was known as "Kiwala" when it was stopped by Estonian authorities in April, the Guardian reports.