Seized tanker tests the limits of shadow fleet enforcement
Moscow is threatening legal action if Britain auctions the crude aboard the detained tanker Smyrtos — a first for UK-led interdiction.
Russia has warned it could pursue legal action should Britain sell the cargo aboard the seized shadow-fleet tanker Smyrtos, raising the stakes in the first UK-led interdiction of a Russia-linked oil tanker.
The 106,800 dwt Smyrtos remains held off southern England after Royal Marines and National Crime Agency officers boarded it on June 14 in the English Channel. London cast the operation as a strike against Moscow's shadow fleet and said the ship was suspected of helping Russia dodge oil sanctions.
The row sharpened following reports that the UK may auction the roughly 100,000 tonnes of crude on board and channel the proceeds to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would weigh its legal options if that happens.
"There are certainly legal options for responding; they will be examined, and the situation will be analysed," Peskov said.
The Smyrtos affair has become a measure of how far European states will go to physically enforce sanctions at sea. Until recently, most action against the shadow fleet centred on designations, port bans, insurance pressure and flag scrutiny; the UK boarding signalled a move towards direct interdiction. It has also surfaced thornier questions over ownership, flagging and cargo rights when sanctioned — or allegedly stateless — vessels are detained in European waters.
Russia has repeatedly condemned Western moves against its shadow fleet, while European governments counter that opaque, ageing and frequently under-insured tankers have become central to keeping Russian oil revenues flowing in spite of sanctions.
The pressure is not letting up. On Tuesday, France intercepted another Russia-linked tanker; president Emmanuel Macron said the country's navy boarded the tanker Deliver as it passed near Sicily.
