The Tagor: France boards a new tanker of the so-called Russian phantom fleet

France reported Monday that it boarded over the weekend a Russian-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic. It is the latest such operation aimed at combating Moscow's so-called ghost fleet.

The Tagor is the fourth tanker in this fleet used by Russia to evade Western sanctions against its oil sales that France intercepted at sea from the Boracay in September 2025.

The boarding occurred "more than 400 nautical miles (740 km) west of the tip of [the region of] Brittany," that is, far from European shores, the Atlantic maritime prefecture specified in a statement.

Coming from the port of Murmansk, in the extreme northwest of Russia, the tanker was heading for the seaside resort town of Limbé, in Cameroon, a country whose flag it was flying.

"This intervention was carried out in the Atlantic, on the high seas (...) in the strictest respect of the Law of the Sea," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on the social network X.

"It is unacceptable for vessels to circumvent international sanctions, violate the Law of the Sea and finance the war waged by Russia against Ukraine for more than four years," he added.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced an "illegal act, bordering on international piracy," and stressed that "Russia takes measures to ensure the safety of its cargo vessels."

The tanker's captain refused on multiple occasions to obey the instructions of the national navy, the Brest prosecutor's office said Monday, considering that "the seizure of control of the vessel was necessary."

The captain declared himself "of Russian nationality," said the prosecutor's office, which opened an investigation for "failure to justify the nationality of a vessel," "absence of flag" and "refusal to obey."

The ship, which had 23 crew members on board.