French soldiers onboard the tanker from Russia's so-called shadow fleet suspected of being involved in drone flights over Denmark. October 1, 2025, off the coast of the western French port of Saint-Nazaire. DAMIEN MEYER / AFP
A French court is to try the Chinese captain of a tanker from Russia's "shadow fleet" early next year, prosecutors said Thursday, October 2, after it was intercepted off the coast of France. The Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia's sanction-busting "shadow fleet" of ageing oil tankers, was stopped by French authorities on Saturday, according to the public prosecutor's office in the northwestern city of Brest.
The captain and first mate of the Boracay were detained on Tuesday over refusing to provide evidence of nationality or cooperate with French authorities, according to the public prosecutor's office in the northwestern city of Brest. The captain has been summoned to appear in court in February, but the first mate has been released, it said.
It was not immediately clear if the captain would be released under certain conditions or if the Russia-linked ship could go on its way.
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