Suspicion of drones? France boards Russian oil tanker
The French navy has captured a tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. The ship was off Denmark during mysterious drone flights.
(Image: rawf8 / Shutterstock.com)
The French navy has boarded the oil tanker Boracay, which flies the flag of Benin, and arrested two high-ranking crew members. The 244-meter-long ship belongs to the so-called Russian shadow fleet and is suspected of being connected to the mysterious drone flights over Danish airports. According to the AFP news agency, the French public prosecutor's office announced that the captain and his first officer had been taken into custody.
According to ship tracking data, the Boracay was moored off the Danish coast—exactly during the period of drone sightings over military facilities and airports. During this time, drones were repeatedly observed over critical infrastructure in Denmark, which led to the temporary closure of several airports.
The specialist maritime portal The Maritime Executive reports that the tanker and possibly other ships may have served either as launch platforms for the drones or as diversionary maneuvers. At an EU summit in Copenhagen, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of “very serious offenses” by the crew but avoided direct confirmation of the link to the drone flights. The French navy had already boarded the ship on Saturday, military sources confirmed.
Videos by heise
The public prosecutor's office in Brest opened an investigation. The tanker, which was built in 2007 and is also known as Pushpa and Kiwala, was placed on the EU's sanctions list in February under the name Kiwala. The ship is currently anchored off Saint-Nazaire on the French west coast.
Russia's shadow fleet circumvents sanctions
The Boracay is part of the so-called shadow fleet—from 22 to 25 September as part of a network of obsolete tankers used by Russia to circumvent Western oil export sanctions. This fleet enables Moscow to continue exporting crude oil despite the restrictions imposed after the Ukraine invasion in 2022.
The EU has now sanctioned hundreds of these tankers. The ships often sail under flags of convenience, such as that of Benin, and often have inadequate safety standards. Tracking data shows that the Boracay left the Russian port of Primorsk near Saint Petersburg on 20 September and was actually due to arrive in Vadinar in north-west India on 20 October.
Swarms of drones over critical infrastructure
Drone incidents in Scandinavia have increased significantly in recent weeks. Suspicious aircraft have also been spotted in Germany, for example, over the Schleswig-Holstein state capital of Kiel. There, coordinated swarms of drones flew over critical infrastructure such as naval dockyards, power plants, and the Kiel Canal. Police officers observed that the drones flew in parallel paths—an indication of systematic survey operations.
In Denmark, several airports and the Skrydstrup airbase were flown over at the same time. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen spoke of a “systematic operation” and ruled out the possibility that these were amateur drone pilots. The Danish government considers the coordinated overflights to be a hybrid attack. It is still unclear which technical characteristics could qualify the Boracay for drone missions. However, modern tankers have sufficient deck space and power supply to operate larger unmanned systems.
Legal basis for boarding
The boarding of a ship flying a foreign flag is governed by complex international law. France can invoke EU sanctions regulations that authorize member states to inspect ships that are suspected of circumventing sanctions. In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea authorizes the boarding and search of ships under certain circumstances.
(mki)
