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European Union naval forces have boarded a tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the Mediterranean and confirmed it was sailing under a false flag, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Sunday.
In a statement on X, Kallas said personnel from the EU naval mission Operation IRINI boarded the MV MIDAG on Friday. The operation established that the vessel was flying a false flag, she said.
Kallas said the boarding was carried out under Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The provision allows warships to board foreign-flagged vessels on the high seas in limited circumstances, including when there are reasonable grounds to suspect a ship is stateless. Ships that fly a flag they are not entitled to can be treated as lacking a nationality.
Operation IRINI was launched by the EU in 2020, with its main task being to help enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya.
Kallas said the EU would keep working to disrupt Russia’s shadow fleet, both at sea and through diplomatic channels.
The term generally describes aging tankers that carry Russian oil outside Western oversight, often with opaque ownership and flags that are changed or falsified. Western governments say such vessels help Moscow get around sanctions and price restrictions on its energy exports. Russia denies that any shadow fleet exists.
Kallas also said EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to approve further sanctions against Russia. The proposed measures are expected to include new listings targeting banks, buyers and companies accused of supporting the alleged shadow fleet.
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