UK boards and detains a sanctioned tanker tied to Russia's shadow fleet
British armed forces boarded and detained the Smyrtos, a Cameroon-flagged tanker, in the English Channel on Sunday in coordination with French authorities, the UK Defence Ministry said — calling it “the first UK-led operation of its kind.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the vessel is suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” the older, often opaquely owned tankers used to move oil around Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
The ship left the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on June 5 bound for Port Said, Egypt, according to MarineTraffic data . It will be held and monitored off England’s south coast for investigation.
Enforcement against the shadow fleet targets the oil revenue that funds Russia’s war. A physical boarding, rather than another round of sanctions listings, signals that the UK and France are prepared to interdict suspect vessels at sea — a more confrontational step that Moscow is likely to contest.