France Detains Sanctioned Tanker Deliver Off Sicily

Overview

• The French Navy intercepted and detained the oil tanker Deliver while it was transiting near the coast of Sicily; Ukraine and other governments have listed the vessel under sanctions.
• Ukrainian officials say the ship was sailing under a Cameroonian flag from Russia’s Primorsk to Singapore when seized and is managed by companies based in Hong Kong.
• The tanker’s officers are Chinese nationals and Ukrainian authorities say one captain is already under Ukraine’s sanctions list.
• Kyiv is calling for the detention to be prolonged and for legal steps that would prevent Deliver from returning to service as part of a wider push to stop sanctions evasion.
• The seizure follows three earlier French interdictions this year and highlights how the so-called shadow fleet uses reflagging, opaque managers and crew from third countries to hide ties and keep moving sanctioned Russian oil.