Prime Minister Keir Starmer ordered the operation in the early morning hours, according to Spiegel. The successful action inflicts further damage on Russia, Starmer wrote on platform X. The British Defense Ministry identified the vessel as the nearly 244-meter-long oil tanker “Smyrtos,” which sails under the Cameroonian flag and is currently anchored in the English Channel.
The tanker is to be temporarily moved to an anchorage off England’s south coast, where it will be monitored for environmental and safety risks. Naval forces and specially trained officers from the National Crime Agency boarded the ship; the military operation lasted six hours. Starmer gave the green light for such boarding operations in March. The action was closely coordinated with France.
Defense Minister Dan Jarvis said in a statement: “Russia funds its conflict in Ukraine with its shadow fleet, and our interception is a blow to Putin’s illegal war.” According to British figures, the shadow fleet comprises more than 700 ships responsible for transporting 75 percent of sanctioned Russian oil. Two weeks ago, France also inspected a Russian oil tanker in the Atlantic, with British support. The Kremlin at the time called such actions “international piracy.”
Source: www.spiegel.de
