French media have reported that two senior crew members from a Russian-linked shadow fleet tanker have been arrested off the coast of Saint-Nazaire in France. French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that the vessel has been detained for “serious offences” by the crew.
The vessel, now identified as the Boracay, was boarded off the coast of Saint-Nazaire by French forces around 1st October. The Boracay is a Benin-flagged crude oil tanker that was built in 2007. The vessel was blacklisted by the EU in February under the name Kiwala for circumventing Russian oil sanctions.
According to AIS data, the vessel was stationed off the coast of Denmark from 22nd to 25th September. There have been drone sightings over Denmark since 22nd September, which have prompted closures of airports for brief periods of time and a ban on all civilian drone flights.
President Macron stated that the vessel was being probed for “serious offences,” but did not explicitly establish any connection between the detaining of the vessel and the drone flights.
French prosecutors have stated that two crew members, identifying themselves as the captain and the first mate of the vessel, were taken into custody. The prosecutors further stated that the preliminary investigations of the vessel involve a “failure to provide proof of the vessel’s nationality” as well as “refusal to comply” with instructions.
