“It is unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions, violate maritime law and finance the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than 4 years,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced the action against the tanker on the X network.
The head of the Elysee Palace also added that the ships of the Russian shadow fleet do not even follow the basic rules of sea navigation, thus endangering the environment and everyone’s safety.
A tanker sailing under the flag of Guinea from Murmansk was intercepted by French military ships in international waters about 740 kilometers west of the French peninsula of Brittany, the office of the Maritime Prefecture for the Atlantic Ocean said on X.
After the inspection team went on board and checked the documents, it was confirmed that the tanker was sailing under the flag of an African state illegally. At the same time, it is already the fourth vessel that France detained while circumventing the sanctions imposed on Russia.
Tagor thus met the same fate as the tankers Deyna, Grinch and Boracay, which sailed to French ports after being detained under surveillance and left them only after paying the fines, the website France24 added.
