PARIS: France’s navy seized another tanker it said was linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” on Thursday, underscoring the escalation this year in European efforts to enforce sanctions and squeeze one of Moscow’s main revenue streams.

Nine suspected shadow fleet tankers, vessels shipping oil and gas to skirt Western sanctions, have now been seized across Europe since the start of 2026, including four by France. Britain seized an oil tanker in the English Channel on June 14.

Another three suspected shadow fleet tankers have been inspected as part of a European naval mission in the Mediterranean, a Western military source said.

Moscow has called such actions illegal.

“We will not let the shadow fleet circumvent sanctions and finance the Russian war effort,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on social media after announcing the seizure of the Deliver, adding: “Europe is determined”.

The tanker left Primorsk, one of Russia’s main oil export terminals, and was intercepted near Sicily as it headed towards the Suez Canal en route to Singapore.

Published in Dawn, June 26 , 2026