French troops have boarded the deck of a tanker alleged to be from Russia‘s ‘shadow fleet’ stationed off France and suspected of involvement in drone flights over Denmark last month.
A source within the executive branch, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP earlier that the French navy had boarded the Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia’s sanction-busting ‘shadow fleet’ of ageing oil tankers.
French President Emmanuel Macron did not confirm reports of a connection to Danish drone flights but said on Wednesday that the ship had committed ‘serious offences’.
On Tuesday the French Navy said authorities were investigating a possible infraction by the Boracay tanker.
It was detained by earlier this year for sailing without a valid country flag.
Shadow fleet tankers typically have opaque ownership and insurance and are often more than 20 years old.
The crude oil tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk on September 20, according to MarineTraffic data.
This aerial picture taken on October 1, 2025 off the coast of the western France port of Saint-Nazaire shows the tanker Boracay from Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ suspected of being involved in drone flights over Denmark which sailed off the Danish coast between September 22 and 25
It sailed through the Baltic Sea and over the top of Denmark before entering the North Sea and transiting west through the Channel.
Ship tracking data shows that the 2007-built tanker was being shadowed by a French warship after it rounded France’s northwestern tip, before altering course and heading east towards the French coast.
It is currently at anchor near Saint Nazaire.
Britain and the EU imposed separate sanctions on the crude oil tanker in October 2024 and February 2025.
The EU said the vessel was linked to the transport of Russian crude oil and petroleum products ‘while practising irregular and high-risk shipping practices’.
Britain said the vessel was ‘involved in activity whose object or effect is to destabilise Ukraine … or to obtain a benefit from or support the government of Russia’ in the transport of oil or oil products that originated in Russia to a third country.
The vessel, which changed its name to Boracay – or on some shipping databases Pushpa – in December 2024, was previously named Kiwala. Ships keep the same IMO identification number throughout their lives, but they may change names.
This is a breaking story, more to follow.
