Captain of Russian shadow fleet tanker detained in France

The Indian captain of the oil tanker Grinch, who is suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet, was taken into custody in France. About reports BFMTV, citing the Marseille prosecutor's office.

According to the agency, the captain was detained on the evening of January 24 after the French Navy boarded the tanker. The prosecutor's office clarified that after the ship changed course and arrived at the anchorage, the captain was handed over to the judicial authorities. Other crew members, who, like the captain, have Indian citizenship, will remain on board.

on January 22, a preliminary investigation was opened to "verify the validity of the tanker's flag and documents." The case is being investigated by the Maritime Gendarmerie Investigation Unit in Toulon, together with the Maritime Safety Center in Marseille.

French Navy stopped a tanker on January 21 in the Mediterranean Sea in an operation conducted in cooperation with allies, including the United Kingdom. The vessel had arrived from the Russian port of Murmansk and was traveling between Almeria, Spain, and Oran, Algeria, at the time of the seizure.

The Grinch tanker appears on the British list of Russian shadow fleet vessels. In the EU and US sanctions lists, it appears under the name Karl.

According to BFMTV, the tanker was built in 2004. It was used to transport oil products, in particular for export to China and India. Since 2022, 30 violations have been recorded during port inspections on the vessel.

• on January 12, 2026, the WSJ reported that at least 15 "shadow" tankers changed their flags to Russian ones since the beginning of January.
• on January 13, President Zelensky announced the suspension at least every fifth "shadow" tanker in Russia.
• on January 15, Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk saidthat Russia is trying to hide the movement of the "shadow fleet" through GPS spoofing