France’s national navy boarded the oil tanker Deliver, a vessel illegally displaying the Cameroonian flag, because it is under sanctions from Yaoundé.
Following the Tagor and Smyrtos vessels intercepted early June in the English Channel while illegally flying the Cameroonian flag, the French navy intercepted on Tuesday, June 23, the Deliver oil tanker which was displaying a false Cameroonian flag. “Document inspection confirmed doubts about the legality of the displayed Cameroonian flag.”
Flying the Cameroonian flag, the vessel was sanctioned by Yaoundé after the incidents involving Tagor and Smyrtos. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the oil tanker likely belongs to the Russian shadow fleet.
“The French Navy boarded the Deliver oil tanker on Tuesday while it was transiting off the coast of Sicily, in violation of maritime law. This fresh action against the shadow fleet, carried out days after a similar operation by the United Kingdom, shows the determination of Europeans,” Macron wrote.
“We will not allow the shadow fleet to bypass sanctions and fund Russia’s war effort,” he continued. In recent weeks, Cameroon’s transport ministry has sanctioned and delisted 39 vessels from the Cameroonian registry.
For Yaoundé, these measures will allow physical registration and digitalization operations to better control the registered fleet and protect the Cameroonian label.
