Belgium seizes suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker

Belgium seized an oil tanker belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet on Sunday, Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken announced, in the latest Western effort to choke off Moscow’s oil revenues funding its war in Ukraine.

“Over the past few hours, our armed forces, with the support of the French Defence, have boarded an oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet,” Francken said in a post on X early on Sunday. “The vessel is currently being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized.”

Over the past few hours, our armed forces, with the support of the French Defence, have boarded an oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. The vessel is currently being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized.
Operation Blue Intruder was carried out… pic.twitter.com/b9MrZN1Pq3
— Theo Francken (@FranckenTheo) March 1, 2026

The ship, identified by Belgian officials as the Ethera, is on the European Union’s sanctions list and was suspected of sailing under a false flag with false documents. It was intercepted in the North Sea and is now being diverted to the Belgian port under armed escort.

Francken told Reuters the operation was part of a deliberate strategy. “Without his shadow fleet Putin can’t wage war against innocent Ukrainians. So we take these vessels out. One by one. Till his war of aggression stops,” he said. “Belgium takes its responsibility seriously.”

The seizure, carried out with French naval and aerial support, marks Belgium’s first reported boarding of a shadow-fleet vessel at sea. It underscores the EU’s intensified campaign to enforce sanctions imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The shadow fleet — hundreds of ageing tankers with opaque ownership structures — has allowed Russia to continue exporting crude oil above the Western price cap, generating billions in revenue despite restrictions. Many of the vessels are poorly maintained, raising fears of environmental disasters in busy European waters.

Russia has repeatedly described such seizures as “acts of piracy” and warned that interference with its energy exports would not go unanswered.

Russian state media have already labelled the Zeebrugge seizure “economic terrorism,” and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would “take all necessary measures to protect its legitimate economic interests.”

In late September 2025 French naval forces boarded and briefly detained the oil tanker Boracay -widely identified as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to evade Western sanctions on oil exports – in international waters off the coast of Saint-Nazaire on France’s Atlantic coast. The vessel, which had repeatedly changed names and flags (including flying a fraudulent Benin flag at the time), was suspected of carrying Russian crude and was linked by investigators to mysterious drone sightings and airspace violations over Denmark earlier that month, including disruptive overflights near Copenhagen airport and military sites that forced temporary closures; authorities believed it may have served as a launch platform for short-range drones as part of Russian hybrid warfare operations.

French commandos raided the ship after it failed to comply with orders to stop, leading to the brief detention of its Chinese captain and first mate, while two Russian nationals – employees of a private security company, one with prior Wagner Group ties – were found aboard and reportedly tasked with gathering intelligence along European coasts. Although the tanker was released after a few days without full confiscation, the incident escalated Western enforcement efforts against the shadow fleet, prompted ongoing investigations, and led to a French trial in absentia for the captain in Brest in February 2026, where prosecutors sought a one-year prison sentence and fine for non-compliance; Russia condemned the boarding as “piracy,” while the case highlighted growing concerns over hybrid threats blending energy sanctions evasion with potential espionage or drone activities in European waters.

With Reuters, with additional content by EUalive

Caption: Belgium seized an oil tanker belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet on Sunday, Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken announced on X