Bad news for Modi govt, India’s close ally detains oil tanker linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, 100000 tonnes of Ural oil to…, country is…

French authorities have seized a tanker carrying Russian crude oil on its way to India(BHARAT), off the Atlantic coast, according to several media reports. They also detained the crew, including the captain and first officer of the ship. France has announced it will put the captain of the crude tanker on trial in February for alleged concealment. The captain, a Chinese national, reportedly refused to cooperate with French authorities investigating the case. The tanker was said to be carrying crude oil for Nayara Energy, for India(BHARAT)’s Vadinar port.

Who detained the Russian-linked tanker?

French President Emmanuel Macron said at an EU event in Copenhagen on Thursday that France’s seizure of the tanker is part of a new European strategy aimed at cutting off revenue that funds Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

“We want to increase pressure on Russia to convince it to return to the negotiating table,” Macron was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera. He further added, “We have now decided to take a step further by moving towards a policy of obstruction when we have suspicious ships in our waters that are involved in this trafficking.”

What are the geopolitical implications of the seizure?

Based on the information of two traders familiar with shipping data, the Boracay loaded 100,000 tons of Urals crude oil from Russia’s Primorsk port near Finland on September 20, supplied by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft. The ship destination is India(BHARAT)’s Vadinar port, where Nayara Energy has a refinery. Rosneft is Russia’s largest oil company and is a key oil supplier for China and India(BHARAT). Rosneft owns 49% of Nayara and provides it with crude oil. Meanwhile, Rosneft has not released any statement, according to the media reports.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that halting the suspected tanker employed by Russia’s “shadow fleet” is a component of a new European plan to cease revenue funding efforts in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Macron also mentioned that it is still undetermined whether the vessel was involved in last week’s drone incursion in Denmark, which led to the closure of Danish airports in the area along the route from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.

Going by the media reports, French naval commandos reportedly conducted a raid on the Boracay in western France on Saturday. The ship was already sanctioned by the European Union and the UK over suspicions it was involved in the export of oil from Russia. According to MarineTraffic data, the ship passed about 50 nautical miles (90 kilometers) south of Copenhagen last week, when drone activity shut airports in the capital. Later, the ship was situated further off Denmark’s western coast, when multiple airports in the area reported sightings of drones.

On Thursday, the Kremlin reportedly stated that France’s confiscation of the ship is ‘frenzy’, which could create difficulties for global routes of energy transport. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “What if it’s not Russian oil? What if France is going to create enormous problems for all the ways of international energy sources – what is going to happen?” He stated, “So I think it’s all part this hysteria I mentioned before.”