French navy boards tanker in Mediterranean suspected of being part of Russia's shadow fleet

French Navy officers stand on board the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off the suburb of Faliro, Athens, Thursday 24 March 2022.

- 
Copyright 
Costas Baltas/Pool via AP
Copyright Costas Baltas/Pool via AP
Published on 20/03/2026 - 16:32 GMT+1•Updated
16:33
Copy/paste the article video embed link below:
The interception took place in the Western Mediterranean and was carried out in cooperation with allies, including the United Kingdom, which monitored the ship.

The French navy intercepted and boarded a tanker in the Mediterranean Sea on Friday that President Emmanuel Macron said is linked to Russia's sanctioned shadow fleet shipping oil in violation of international sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

According to the French maritime authorities for the Mediterranean, the tanker Deyna is suspected of operating under a false flag designation.

The interception took place in the Western Mediterranean and was carried out in cooperation with allies, including the United Kingdom, which monitored the ship, the authorities said.

"This operation aimed to verify the nationality of the vessel," which was flying the flag of Mozambique and was coming from the Russian port of Murmansk, the maritime authorities said in a statement
The documents found onboard "confirmed doubts about the validity of the flag," they said.

The tanker was diverted and escorted by the French navy to an anchorage point for further checks, the statement said and the case was referred to a prosecutor in the port of Marseille.

In a post on X, Macron called the Deyna a "shadow fleet" vessel.

"These vessels, which circumvent international sanctions and violate the law of the sea, are war profiteers
They seek to generate profits and finance Russia’s war effort," Macron said
"We won't let this happen."
Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to evade sanctions over its war against Ukraine
France and other countries have vowed to crack down.

France releases suspected Russian 'shadow fleet' tanker after 'several million euro' fineBelgium seizes Russian shadow fleet tanker in North Sea sanctions crackdown
In January, France's navy intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean sailing from Russia
The vessel was released last month after paying a multimillion-euro penalty.

Last September, French naval forces boarded another oil tanker of France's Atlantic coast that Macron also linked to the shadow fleet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced that interception as an act of piracy.

Russia pocketing billions from two weeks of war in Iran, data shows
Is Russia using the war in the Middle East to spread disinformation about Ukraine?

The country likely winning from Iran's Hormuz gambit