The French Navy has boarded an oil tanker bringing crude from Russia into the Mediterranean Sea, as part of a global crackdown on shadow fleet ships used to export sanctioned crude. The operation was carried out on the high seas with support from several of France's allies, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on X. The vessel — the Grinch — is subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag, Macron said.
The operation comes amid a step-up in pressure on the global shadow fleet of aging tankers. The U.S. has been seizing ships tied to Venezuela's oil exports — one of which sought the shelter of the Russian flag — while European nations have long discussed tougher measures against aging vessels sailing through their waters. "We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions," Macron said. "The activities of the 'shadow fleet' contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine."
A judicial investigation has been opened and the vessel has been diverted, Macron said. UN rules allow checks to be carried out on ships suspected of carrying false flags, according to a statement from France's administration for maritime affairs in the Mediterranean. The French navy said the tanker, which came from Murmansk on Russia's Arctic coast, was boarded in the Alboran Sea south of Spain and taken to a mooring.
The tanker was loaded with cargo at the time, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. While not giving a destination, it was sailing in the direction of the Suez Canal, a common waypoint for tankers carrying Russian barrels to Asia. From a supply chain perspective, naval operations of this kind are materially complicating the gray-market logistics of Russian crude. Insurance premiums, P&I club terms and classification society audits are accelerating structural change in the shadow fleet segment, and a meaningful narrowing of the Brent-Urals spread will require these enforcement actions to become more frequent.
