France has launched an investigation into a Russian-linked oil tanker anchored off Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast. The vessel is suspected of being part of Moscow's "shadow fleet" and has also been mentioned in Denmark's inquiry into mysterious drone flights that disrupted air traffic last month.
The 244-meter tanker, named Boracay but also known as Pushpa and Kiwala, has been anchored near French territorial waters off the Saint-Nazaire wind farm for several days, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
It sails under a Benin flag and left the Russian port of Primorsk, near Saint Petersburg, on 20 September.
The Brest prosecutor’s office said it opened the investigation after a report from the navy.
Prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger told the French news agency AFP the probe concerns the crew’s “failure to justify the nationality of the vessel” and its “refusal to cooperate”.
A representative of the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture told AFP it had “recently filed a report with the public prosecutor in Brest” concerning the Boracay, which is “suspected of being in violation of the law”.
An investigation is underway, the representative added, declining to release any details.
