France fines shadow-fleet tanker owner EUR 1m over false flag
The tanker Tagor was detained in the Atlantic for flying a false Cameroon flag as Europe's shadow-fleet crackdown widens.
French prosecutors have fined the owner of the shadow-fleet tanker Tagor EUR 1m after the vessel was detained in the Atlantic on suspicion of sailing under a false flag. The 2004-built tanker was stopped by French authorities on 31 May around 740 km off the French coast and held for a month in Douarnenez Bay. Prosecutors in Brest said the owner admitted guilt and was convicted locally; the ship has since been allowed to leave French waters and is reportedly heading for Istanbul.
Shipping databases list the owner as UAE-registered Zulu Ships Management, a company sanctioned by the US Treasury over alleged links to a network tied to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, accused of moving Russian and Iranian oil in breach of sanctions. The Tagor had allegedly used a false Cameroon flag, and the owner has undertaken to obtain a lawful flag.
France has now intercepted at least five suspected shadow-fleet tankers in the past year, part of a wider European crackdown that also includes the UK's seizure of the Smyrtos and France's detention of the Deliver near Sicily.
Source: Splash247; Brest prosecutor's office; US Treasury.
