The French navy has intercepted a sanctioned oil tanker that had sailed from a Russian port – the third identified seizure in latest months.
The ship – the Tagor – was seized within the Atlantic “in international waters, with the support of several partners including the United Kingdom, in strict compliance with the law of the sea,” French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X Monday.
A crude oil tanker with that identify registered in Madagascar was proven on ship monitoring websites within the North Atlantic 5 days in the past, having set out from the Russian port of Umba.
The Tagor has been sanctioned by the European Union, the UK and the United States.
“It is unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea, and fund the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than four years,” Macron stated.
“These vessels, which fail to adhere to the most basic rules of maritime navigation, also pose a threat to the environment and to everyone’s safety.”
The Kremlin stated France’s motion on Sunday evening was “illegal, bordering on international piracy.”
“We absolutely disagree that they are being carried out in full compliance with international law,” stated Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The captain of the Tagor is believed to be a Russian citizen, the Russian embassy in Paris informed state information company TASS.
The embassy stated it had requested info from French authorities relating to the presence of Russian residents among the many crew however was but to obtain a response.
France has urged a more durable Western strategy in direction of intercepting ships carrying Russian oil in defiance of sanctions, saying they continuously fly below false flags, are uninsured or lack security certification.
In March, the French navy seized an oil tanker within the Mediterranean that Macron stated belonged to Russia’s shadow fleet, which includes a number of hundred tankers by which Russia evades sanctions.
These ships “seek to reap profits and finance Russia’s war effort,” Macron stated then.
The United States has eased sanctions on Russian oil already at sea because the battle within the Middle East conflict disrupts oil provides. Europe has not adopted go well with.
The UK authorities stated in March that “disrupting, deterring and degrading Russia’s shadow fleet – and starving Putin’s war machine of funds – is a priority for this government” and its allies.
In January, France stopped another oil tanker between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco on suspicion that it was a part of the Russian shadow fleet.
Belgium intercepted another tanker suspected of crusing with a “false flag and false documents” in March, with French help.