Ramnagar (India) (AFP) – The Indian captain of an alleged Russian shadow fleet oil vessel seized by British commandos has been made a "scapegoat", his wife told AFP, as her husband awaits trial.
Ajay Pant, 38, in custody in Britain, has been charged with sanctions offences carrying a maximum 10-year prison sentence, in a case that could set a legal precedent for merchant seafarers."My husband just became the scapegoat," Ritu Pant, 36, told AFP in her first sit-down interview since her husband's arrest in June. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time."British commandos fast-roped from a helicopter on June 14 in the English Channel to intercept the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos, captained by Pant.The tanker is allegedly part of Russia's ghost fleet, a network of vessels with opaque ownership and insurance, used by Moscow to evade oil sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Ritu Pant, the wife of Indian merchant navy captain Ajay Pant, holds a picture of her husband who remains in custody in Britain over sanctions-related offences linked to an alleged Russian 'shadow fleet' oil tanker © Arun SANKAR / AFP
According to MarineTraffic, the Smyrtos sailed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga on June 5, passing through the Baltic Sea, with Egypt's Port Said listed as its destination.But as it crossed the Channel, commandos swooped.Then-prime minister Keir Starmer hailed the mission -- the first UK-led operation of its kind -- as a "blow to Russia".Pant's wife said he is the victim, and is struggling in custody after being denied bail."He was broken and he was just crying," she said, struggling to hold back her own tears, recalling their first phone call after his arrest."He didn't know what had happened to him... He just said, 'I am in jail, please take me out'."'Early test'The prosecution's case is that Ajay Pant was the "master of the ship" and had "knowledge of the cargo", which amounted to some 98,000 tonnes of oil.
