It appears that the French have bitten off considerably more than they’re going to want to chew:
French troops have boarded the deck of a tanker alleged to be from Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ stationed off the coast of France and suspected of involvement in drone flights over Denmark last month.
A source within the executive branch, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP earlier that the French navy had boarded the Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia’s sanction-busting ‘shadow fleet’ of ageing oil tankers.
French President Emmanuel Macron did not confirm reports of a connection to Danish drone flights but said on Wednesday that the ship had committed ‘serious offences’.
It is currently at anchor near the western city of Saint Nazaire.
It comes after the French Navy said on Tuesday that authorities were investigating a possible infraction by the Boracay tanker.
It was detained by earlier this year for sailing without a valid country flag.
The whole “shadow fleet” concept is absurd in the first place. It just means that Lloyd’s of London and other Western insurance companies don’t insure Russian-owned vessels. In any event, if the vessel isn’t released soon, I have no doubt that Russia will find a way to make France pay appropriately for its actions.
It’s informative to observe the French will stop Russian oil tankers, but not migrant dinghies.