Today at 20:04
France has fined the owner of the sanctioned tanker Tagor €1 million after the vessel, which is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, was detained by the French Navy in the Atlantic Ocean in late May.
According to Le Monde, Brest prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger said the owner was fined for sailing without a valid flag and refusing to comply with orders issued by French naval authorities, UATV English reports.
At the time of its detention, the Tagor was sailing under the flag of Cameroon. French authorities suspected the registration was fraudulent. The tanker, already under international sanctions, had previously operated under the flags of Madagascar, the Marshall Islands, and Panama.
Kellenberger said that once the administrative settlement procedure is completed, the vessel’s detention will be lifted and the Tagor will be allowed to leave French territorial waters.
The French Navy intercepted the tanker in the Atlantic at the end of May while it was en route from Russia. The vessel was escorted to Douarnenez Bay in the Finistère department, where prosecutors launched an investigation. The Russian captain was briefly detained before being released.
