The captain of the oil tanker "Grinch", suspected of being part of the Russian shadow fleet, has been detained in France. This was reported by the prosecutor's office in the French city of Marseilles.
The ship was seized in the Mediterranean by the French navy on Thursday and is anchored off the town of Martigues near Marseilles on Sunday. The 58-year-old captain is an Indian citizen. So is the rest of the crew.
The Marseilles prosecutor's office, which is responsible for investigating the case, says that the other crew members are on board the oil tanker. A ship from the French navy and two police patrol boats are near it, an AFP photographer has seen.
Several countries in Europe - including Denmark - are trying to take action against Russia's shadow fleet. The ships sail under flags other than the Russian one to circumvent international sanctions against Russia's oil and gas exports. These are sanctions that are intended to bring Russia's economy and war machine to its knees, so that the country abandons the war in Ukraine.
But for now, the export of fossil fuels continues, and it has proven difficult for European countries to do anything about it. The shadow ships regularly change the flag they sail under, which makes it harder to track them. The EU has imposed sanctions on almost 600 ships believed to belong to the shadow fleet.
The French authorities state that the 249-meter-long ship "Grinch" appears under that name on a British sanctions list, while the ship is called "Carl" on European and American lists.
This is the second time in a few months that France has seized a ship suspected of circumventing sanctions. In September, it was the oil tanker "Boracay" that the French authorities boarded. It sailed under the flag of Benin, but is believed to be under Russian control.
The tanker's captain - a Chinese citizen - is due to stand trial in February. The French action against the ships has been criticized by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the seizure of "Boracay" piracy.
/ritzau/AFP
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