British armed forces have seized a sanctioned Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel — the first time the United Kingdom has led such an operation to disrupt the oil revenue funding Russia's war in Ukraine.
Royal Marines and National Crime Agency officers boarded the Smyrtos, a tanker carrying more than a hundred thousand tonnes of Russian crude, in a six-hour operation on Sunday. The vessel is now anchored off the Dorset coast.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says he personally ordered the interception, but the opposition has questioned why dozens of shadow fleet vessels were allowed to pass through British waters in recent months.
Stephanie Baker is a senior writer at Bloomberg News and author of Punishing Putin.
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Stephanie Baker, a senior writer at Bloomberg News, says the shadow fleet tankers travelling through the English Channel carry questionable insurance, leaving British taxpayers potentially exposed in the event of a spill.
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Stephanie Baker, a senior writer at Bloomberg News, says the act of boarding the tanker should discourage other shadow fleet vessels from using the English Channel — and that European governments need to step up enforcement because of the environmental risks.
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