France boards a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker, Moscow denounces 'illegal' act
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday the boarding of an oil tanker under European sanctions originating from Russia in the Atlantic Ocean, suspected of flying a false flag, an operation deemed 'illegal' by Moscow.
This is the fourth tanker from the shadow fleet, used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions on its oil sales, to be intercepted at sea by France, since the Boracay in September 2025.
The boarding of this tanker, named the Tagor, occurred more than 400 nautical miles (740 km) west of Brittany, according to the Atlantic maritime prefecture.
Coming from the port of Murmansk in far northwestern Russia, the vessel was heading to the seaside town of Limbé in Cameroon, the flag of which it was flying.
But the French Navy considered it likely a false flag and decided to board the vessel, as permitted by the Montego Bay Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Kremlin, however, denounced an operation 'on the verge of international piracy' through its spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The captain, of Russian nationality, 'repeatedly refused to comply with instructions' from French military personnel, making a takeover of the vessel 'necessary', according to Brest prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger.
'Examination of documents confirmed doubts about the irregularity of the flag flown,' the maritime prefecture stated.
- Opening of a criminal investigation -
The Brest prosecutor's office, competent in maritime matters, therefore opened a criminal investigation for lack of flag and refusal to comply, entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie.
In March, the Chinese captain of the Boracay was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and a €150,000 fine by the Brest criminal court for similar offenses.
'It is unacceptable that ships circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea, and finance the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than four years,' commented Emmanuel Macron, reaffirming France's 'constant and total' determination to fight the Russian shadow fleet.
The vessel, which has 23 crew members, is currently being escorted by the French Navy 'to an anchorage point for further checks,' the maritime prefecture said. Given its distance, it should take '24 to 48 hours' to reach that anchorage point, according to the same source.
- Ship linked to Iranian magnate -
Under sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, the Tagor has changed flag multiple times, notably flying those of Madagascar, the Marshall Islands, and Panama.
Suspected of transporting Russian or Iranian oil despite sanctions, the Tagor is said to be linked to Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, according to the website Opensanctions.org.
Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani is the son of Ali Shamkhani, a close advisor to the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Both were killed in February, on the first day of the Israeli-American offensive against Iran.
Asked about this, the Atlantic maritime prefecture declined to comment.
'What triggered the boarding was doubts about the regularity of the flag,' frigate captain Guillaume Le Rasle, spokesman for the maritime prefecture, told AFP. 'It is a vessel that was tracked and known,' he explained. The tanker was 'almost empty' at the time of boarding, according to him.
The ship's identification system (AIS) has not transmitted a signal indicating its position for a week. The Tagor was then sailing off the Norwegian coast, according to the Marine Traffic website.
The interception of this tanker is the fourth of its kind carried out by France after those of the Deyna and the Grinch, stopped in the Mediterranean in March and January 2026 respectively, and that of the Boracay, boarded in September 2025 off Ouessant (Finistère).
The three vessels were immobilized and then allowed to leave, after payment of fines for the last two.
France announced on April 8 that it wanted to double the penalties applicable for offenses of lack of flag and refusal to comply.
