France detained a Russia-linked oil tanker off the coast of Sicily this week, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, in the latest such seizure aimed at combatting Moscow's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet".
"On Tuesday, the French navy boarded the oil tanker Deliver as it was passing off the coast of Sicily in breach of maritime law," Macron posted on X.
The vessel, which was flying the Cameroonian flag and sailing from Russia's Baltic port of Primorsk, was boarded because of doubts over the validity of its flag, the maritime prefecture said.
The French navy was escorting the tanker to an anchorage spot for further checks, it added.
Macron said the Deliver was linked to Moscow's so-called shadow fleet, used to circumvent Western sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The vessels frequently change the flags they fly, a practice known as flag-hopping, or use invalid registrations in an attempt to escape tracking.
"We will not allow the 'shadow fleet' to circumvent sanctions and finance Russia's war effort," Macron said.
Since September, France has boarded four other ships believed to belong to Russia's shadow fleet.
In late May, French authorities with British help detained the Tagor in the Atlantic on suspicion of flying a false flag.
The Russian captain was taken into custody and later released.
The prosecutor said at the time the captain faced up to a year in prison and a 150,000 euro ($174,000) fine over a suspected lack of a flag and refusing to comply with orders from the navy.
The French navy in September boarded the Boracay, which claimed to be flagged in Benin. Its Chinese captain was put on trial in absentia and a French court in March issued an arrest warrant and a one-year jail sentence against him.
In January, French forces impounded another suspected Russian tanker, the Grinch, and in March, the Deyna that sailed from Murmansk under a Mozambican flag was detained in Marseille.
They were later freed after paying fines.
In April, France announced a plan to double penalties for ships that fail to fly a flag or refuse to comply.
Several Western countries have imposed sanctions on hundreds of suspected shadow fleet vessels over the Ukraine invasion, with EU sanctions targeting nearly 600 ships.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the detention of Russia-linked vessels as "piracy."
