France and UK intercept Russian tanker Tagor in Atlantic over sanctions evasion
The operation, conducted more than 400 nautical miles west of Brittany, marks the fourth such interception by French forces since September and underscores the intensifying crackdown on vessels attempting to circumvent international restrictions.
French naval forces, supported by the United Kingdom, intercepted the Russian oil tanker Tagor in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, an operation French President Emmanuel Macron described as a necessary response to vessels attempting to skirt international sanctions. The boarding, which Macron announced via X on Monday, involved personnel rappelling from a helicopter onto the vessel, footage of which was released to the public.
According to the Atlantic maritime prefecture, the tanker had sailed from Murmansk in northwestern Russia and was en route to Limbe, Cameroon. Authorities stated the vessel was flying a false Cameroonian flag and was part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” a network of ships suspected of transporting Russian oil to finance the war in Ukraine. Guillaume Le Rasle, a spokesman for the prefecture, confirmed that the ship was under European Union and United States sanctions and noted that the objective of the diversion was to verify the validity of its flag.
The Tagor has a history of changing flags, with MarineTraffic tracker data indicating that just one week prior to the interception, the vessel was sailing off the Norwegian coast under a Madagascan flag. French authorities observed that the tanker was “almost empty” at the time of boarding. The interception took place more than 400 nautical miles (740km) west of Brittany in international waters.
This incident marks the fourth time France has boarded a suspected shadow fleet vessel since September. Previous operations involved the Boracay, the Grinch, and the Deyna, resulting in fines, detentions, or arrest warrants for their captains. In April, France announced a plan to double penalties for ships that fail to fly a flag or refuse to comply with regulations, signalling a tightening of enforcement mechanisms.
President Macron condemned the actions of such vessels, stating it was unacceptable that they violate the law of the sea and finance Russia’s war against Ukraine. He highlighted that these ships, which often disregard elementary rules of maritime navigation, pose a threat to both the environment and global security. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously condemned the detention of Russia-linked vessels as piracy, but Western powers maintain the operation is a legitimate enforcement of sanctions imposed following Russia’s 2022 invasion.
