France intercepts suspected Russian oil tanker: President Macron warns Moscow
Following the seizure of the oil tanker Boracay and its Chinese captain, French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe would be more aggressive with the “dark Russian fleet.” Meanwhile, the captain of the Boracay has been charged in France.
French President Speaks Out
French President Emmanuel Macron said on October 2 that European countries will start intercepting suspected Russian oil tankers as they enter European waters.
“We have decided to go a step further by taking measures to prevent suspicious vessels from operating in European waters,” Macron said in Copenhagen, after attending a European Political Community summit.
Macron said European chiefs of staff, in coordination with NATO, would meet in the coming days to develop a “coordinated policy to deter the ‘dark fleet,’” modeled on the “coalition of the willing” set up by France and Britain to support Ukraine.
The French president’s warning came after France arrested two crew members of the Boracay, suspected of transporting Russian oil to evade Western sanctions.
Chinese captain charged
According to French prosecutors, the ship Boracay, which flies the flag of Benin (a country in West Africa) but has changed its name and flag several times, was intercepted and inspected by French forces on September 27.
The two captains of the ship Boracay, both Chinese citizens, have been detained since September 30 as French authorities investigate them on suspicion of two crimes: refusing to comply with naval orders and failing to prove the nationality of the flag on board.
According to the BBC, one of the two captains has been released on bail and has not been charged, while the other has been charged by French authorities and is scheduled to stand trial in February 2026 in the French coastal city of Brest.
Regarding the penalty, according to US media, the Chinese captain could face up to a year in prison and a fine of up to 150,000 euros (4.6 billion VND).
China has not commented on the arrests involving its citizens. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the French actions “piracy.” The Kremlin denied any Russian involvement in the Boracay.
The Boracay is currently anchored near the port of Saint-Nazaire, along the coast of Brest. The Boracay was detained by Estonian authorities earlier this year for not having a valid national flag.
In the latest incident, the BBC reported that the ship departed from the Russian port of Primorsk outside Saint Petersburg on September 20 and passed through the Baltic Sea and Denmark before entering the North Sea and continuing through the English Channel.
According to data from the tracking website Marine Traffic, the ship was scheduled to arrive at the port of Vadinar in northwest India on October 20.
President Macron welcomed the decision to raid and inspect the ship, stressing that it was a step in Europe’s strategy to undermine the profit model of “dark fleets.”
According to the BBC, international maritime law stipulates that naval forces can intercept a merchant vessel at sea if they have reason to suspect that the vessel is stateless.
Many Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia's energy sector by restricting imports and capping oil prices, related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to the West, to avoid these sanctions, Moscow has built a "shadow tanker fleet" to continue exporting oil.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the "Russian shadow fleet" has between 600 and 1,000 ships.
Russia has often denied allegations of involvement in a "shadow fleet", while emphasizing that the West's actions to intercept oil tankers violate international law and could disrupt the global energy supply chain.