Photo: Michael Bateman / Marinetraffic
On the morning of June 14, the UK Armed Forces detained a vessel from Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the English Channel. The UK Ministry of Defence reported this, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer also confirmed the information.
Details. According to the authorities, the order to detain the vessel was given personally by Starmer. The tanker in question was SMYRTOS, which was sailing under the flag of Cameroon. The operation to detain it lasted about six hours. It involved naval aviation helicopters, a P-8 Royal Air Force aircraft, the frigate HMS Sutherland, and the minesweeper HMS Ledbury.
British forces boarded the tanker and detained it. The UK Ministry of Defence said the vessel would remain under watch off the southern coast while the investigation continues.
“This successful operation has dealt another blow to Russia and reminded those fuelling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not allow them to hide,” Starmer wrote.
What is known about the vessel. ASTRA, citing Ukrainian intelligence data, writes that since March of last year the tanker SMYRTOS had been used to export Russian oil, mainly from the Pacific port of Kozmino. In July of last year, the vessel was placed under EU sanctions, and in August, under Swiss sanctions.