The French Navy this week intercepted and detained an oil tanker, the Tagor, in international waters off the coast of Brittany. The vessel is suspected of being part of Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ used to export oil in violation of Western sanctions.
French officials say the tanker departed from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk and was flying a false Cameroonian flag. The Russian captain initially refused to stop, prompting a boarding operation. The Kremlin has condemned the action as ‘international piracy’.
This is the fourth such vessel France has detained since September 2024. The Tagor is also linked to the broader shipping network of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, an Iranian oil trader sanctioned by both the European Union and the United States. His network is accused of generating billions of dollars by moving Russian and Iranian crude.
Western governments have tightened enforcement, with nearly 600 vessels now under sanctions related to Russian oil exports.