British armed forces intercepted a suspected Russian shadow fleet oil tanker, SMYRTOS, in the English Channel on Sunday on the orders of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
A Russian shadow fleet oil tanker allegedly attempting to pass through the English Channel was intercepted by British armed forces on Sunday. Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to evade sanctions over the Ukraine war.
The vessel SMYRTOS was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement. British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said that he had directed the interception.
Royal Marine commandos rappelled from helicopters onto the vessel, the Smyrtos, in the English Channel, in what the country’s Defense Ministry called “the first U.K.-led operation of its kind.”
The vessel will be held and monitored off the south coast as investigations continue, the statement said, adding that enforcement action in Britain’s territorial waters was carried out in accordance with domestic and international law.
“This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide,” Starmer said in a post on X.
Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said: “Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin’s illegal war.”
The operation was supported with aircraft from the Maritime Air Group, an RAF P-8 aircraft, as well as HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.
Sailing under a Cameroon flag, the Smyrtos left the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on June 5 destined for Port Said, Egypt, according to the MarineTraffic website.