Belgium seizes Russian 'shadow fleet' tanker

BRUSSELS: Belgium’s special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker from the “shadow fleet” Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the government said on Sunday.

Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot said the vessel was intercepted in the North Sea during an overnight operation.

“Today, a vessel from Russia’s shadow fleet was intercepted in the North Sea,” Prevot wrote on X, thanking Belgian special forces for their “exceptional professionalism and courage”.

Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said the intercepted tanker was “being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized”.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on X that French naval forces assisted in the operation, calling it a “major blow” to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

Russia has used a flotilla of ageing tankers of opaque ownership to get around restrictions on its lucrative crude exports imposed over its 2022 all-out invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union has blacklisted hundreds of vessels in a bid to sap Moscow’s war chest.

“Sanctions only matter if they are enforced. Today, we enforced them,” Prevot said, suggesting the seized ship might have operated under a false flag.

The operation was carried out alongside Belgium’s G7, Nordic and Baltic partners and in coordination with France, he added.