Paris
Reuters
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French police arrested the captain and aides of a licensed tanker suspected of running the Russian “Shadow Fleet,” after the navy boarded the vessel, authorities said Thursday.
“We would like to thank our naval commanders and the French Navy crew for intervening in the shadowed Russian fleet tankers this weekend.
“Their actions helped the arrest of two members of the crew.”
Brest Prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger said the office is handling Boracay’s investigation, but in a statement the two people in custody have identified themselves as the ship’s captain and its assistant officer.
They were accused of not providing evidence of the vessel’s nationality and their detention was extended because they failed to comply with the order, he said.
President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed investigations into the vessels, but estimates that Russia’s “shadow fleet” contains between 600 and 1,000 vessels, but French authorities are nervous about the investigation.
Boracay, authorized by the UK and the European Union, left Russia’s port of Primorsk on September 20, according to data from Marine Traffic.
According to data from Marine Traffic, when drone activities forced the city’s airport to close on September 22, it left the Baltic Sea about 50 sailing miles (90 km) south of Copenhagen.
It was also observed that it moved south along the west coast of Denmark on the evening of September 24th. It was then reported that drones were flying north of Esbjarg and near several airports nearby.
French and Danish authorities have declined to comment on whether French investigations are related to drone intrusions.
The Kremlin had no information on the ship on Wednesday, but added that Russian troops had to act from time to time to restore order when foreign countries took what they called spokesman Dmitry Peskov “provocative action.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
