The captain of an oil tanker intercepted by the French navy in the Mediterranean Sea was in custody for questioning following the seizure of the vessel on suspicion of violating international sanctions against Russia. The Grinch, which departed from Murmansk in northwestern Russia, is suspected of operating as part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ — a network of over 400 vessels used to evade economic penalties imposed over the war in Ukraine.
The seizure reflects an intensifying effort by France and other nations to disrupt Russia’s sanctions-evasion network, which uses aging vessels registered under flags of countries not participating in the Western sanctions regime.
The captain of the oil tanker Grinch was handed to judicial authorities on Sunday for questioning following the French navy’s interception of the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Marseille prosecutor’s office. The Indian captain, 58, and his crew of Indian nationals remain under investigation in connection with the ship’s suspected role in Russia’s sanctions-evasion operations.
“The purpose of the investigation is to verify the validity of the flag flown by the tanker and the documents required for its navigation,” the prosecutor’s statement said. The crew has remained on board during the inquiry.
Russia’s Shadow Fleet
The Grinch departed from Murmansk in northwestern Russia and is suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” — a network of over 400 aging vessels and tankers owned through non-transparent entities and registered under flags of countries not participating in Western sanctions regimes. Russia is believed to be deploying the fleet to circumvent economic penalties imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
France and other nations have committed to cracking down on the shadow-fleet operations. President Emmanuel Macron has cast the enforcement efforts as part of broader commitments to maintain the integrity of international sanctions against Russia.
Pattern of French Enforcement
In September, French naval units boarded another oil tanker off the French Atlantic coast that Macron also linked to the shadow fleet. That vessel’s captain is scheduled to go on trial in February over allegations that the crew refused to cooperate during the boarding.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the September interception by denouncing it as an act of piracy, signaling Moscow’s opposition to the enforcement actions against its sanctions-evasion network.