Belgium’s special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker from the ‘shadow fleet’ Russia utilizes to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the government declared on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot declared the vessel was intercepted in the North Sea during an overnight operation.
“Today, a vessel from Russia’s shadow fleet was intercepted in the North Sea,” Prevot wrote on social media, thanking Belgian special forces for their “exceptional professionalism and courage.”
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken declared the intercepted tanker was “being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized”.
Prosecutors identified the ship, which was declared to be on its way back to Russia, as the “Ethera.”
The tanker flew the flag of Guinea, but an on-board inspection confirmed suspicion that it was sailing under a false flag, they declared.
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