EU Forces Board a Sixth Tanker in the Mediterranean for Flag Verification

European Union forces boarded a sixth tanker in the Mediterranean on 30 August on suspicion that it was sailing under a false flag for the shadow fleet serving Russian oil exports. Personnel from the Italian patrol vessel ITS Paolo Thaon di Revel went aboard from helicopters and launches to carry out the inspection.

Kaja Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, described the boarding as a flag verification, and noted it was the sixth tanker EUNAVFOR IRINI has stopped since its mandate was extended earlier this year.

The ship is trading as Sun and reports registry in Cameroon, established in 2026, after being recorded in 2025 as having sailed under false flags from Timor-Leste and Benin. The 159,186 dwt crude tanker was built in 2005, is listed as owned and managed from Turkey, and is in a Russian class society. It was showing an AIS track from Novorossiysk while apparently in ballast, with a stated destination in Denmark and a note that it was awaiting orders. The vessel already sits under EU and UK sanctions. A port state inspection at Novorossiysk in July recorded deficiencies covering firefighting equipment, lifebuoys and alarms, without detention.

Operation Irini was established in 2020 under a United Nations mandate to enforce the arms embargo on Libya. Since March it has held an expanded right of visit for flag verification under Article 110 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Boarding teams inspect the ship's documents and collect information for assessment and reporting to EU authorities. The vessels are not seized or directed into port, which distinguishes the operation from actions taken by France, Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

It is the second boarding this month involving the same Italian ship. At the start of August it inspected the 51,000 dwt product tanker Toa Payoh southwest of Sicily, also claiming Cameroon registry. Vessels flying that flag draw scrutiny because of a high level of fraudulent registration, and because Cameroon suspended registrations this year under European pressure.

The enforcement backdrop keeps widening. The European Union has now sanctioned more than 600 tankers as part of its effort to curtail Russian oil revenue, and Kallas said illegal oil sales from shadow fleet ships are a critical lifeline for the war in Ukraine. Ships in this trade rely on opaque ownership and rapid re-registration, patterns described in the dark fleet and reflected in the growing number of vessels carrying a flag of convenience that no longer recognises them.