France Detains Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker on Suspicion of Sanctions Violation

French authorities are investigating a possible violation of sanctions by the Benin-flagged tanker Boracay, which is under British and EU sanctions.

This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to Reuters.

Thus, the French Navy stated that after suspicions of sanctions violations by the Boracay vessel, a report was submitted “to the relevant prosecutor’s office in Brest”. The investigation is currently ongoing.

The vessel was subject to Western sanctions in October 2024 (Britain) and February 2025 (EU). It was noted that the tanker was associated with the transportation of Russian oil and petroleum products, and “participated in activities the purpose or effect of which is to destabilize Ukraine… or to obtain benefits from or provide support to the Russian government”.

The vessel’s previous name is Kiwala. It changed its name to Boracay in December 2024, but in some shipping databases it is listed as Pushpa.

The 2007-built tanker is currently anchored off the west coast of France in the Atlantic Ocean, near Saint-Nazaire.

USM previously reported that China is restricting access to older tankers at the port of Qingdao to combat the “shadow fleet.”