French prosecutor blocks suspected 'shadow fleet' tanker, releases captain

MARSEILLE, France June ‌29 (Reuters) - A ​French ​prosecutor ordered on Monday the immobilisation of an oil tanker suspected of ‌being part of the "shadow fleet" Russia uses ⁠to ship oil and gas and to skirt Western ‌sanctions.

• The Marseille prosecutor ‌ordered on Sunday the release of the ship's captain who was held in police custody ​for two days.

• French authorities suspected the ship was sailing under a false flag. ⁠It was intercepted off Sicily on June 23, the prosecutor's ​office said.

• "This new action against the shadow fleet, conducted days after a similar ​operation by Britain, shows Europeans' ‌determination," Macron said in a post on Instagram last week.

• The oil ⁠tanker was sailing from Primorsk in Russia and sailed under a Cameroonian flag.

• The ship is ⁠anchored in the Guld of Fos-sur-Mer, off Marseille. A ​total of 25 crew, including the captain, were on board.

• France has intercepted at least five tankers it ‌says are part of Russia's shadow fleet, old vessels that Russia has ‌relied on to ship oil and gas and ⁠to skirt Western ‌sanctions.

• Moscow has ​called such actions illegal.

(Reporting by Marc Leras and Inti Landauro; Editing by Daniel ‌Wallis)

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