France seizes Russian shadow fleet tanker off Réunion island

The French navy on Monday morning detained the tanker DF Peak, suspected of sailing under a false flag and taking part in illicit fuel shipments. The vessel was stopped in the ocean more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion island, President Emmanuel Macron said.

According to Macron, the detention shows France’s “determination to enforce the rule of law” and to fight “all illegal trade, wherever it takes place”. In a social media post he stressed that the country intends to stand up to the “ghost fleet” around the world.

This is not the first time Paris has acted against vessels of Russia’s “shadow fleet”. In late June, French sailors seized the tanker Deliver off the coast of Sicily. About two weeks earlier, on 13 June, British forces in the English Channel detained the tanker Smyrtos, also part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, in British territorial waters.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz