a day after the vessel was intercepted by the navy. French forces, with the support of allies, boarded the oil tanker Grinch on Thursday in waters between Spain and Morocco, after it began its voyage from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk. The tanker is expected to arrive at the port of Marseille-Fos in southern France on Saturday morning, according to the same source.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the French Navy, with allied support, had intercepted a vessel “subject to international sanctions” and suspected of flying a false flag. A ship named Grinch is under UK sanctions, while another vessel named Carl, sharing the same registration number, is sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.

Ship-tracking websites MarineTraffic and VesselFinder reported that the vessel had been flying the flag of Comoros. Images released by the French military showed masked soldiers boarding the Russia-linked ship during an operation involving a navy patrol boat and two navy helicopters.

The tanker is suspected of being part of a shadow fleet used to transport oil for countries such as Russia and Iran in violation of US sanctions. The boarding marks the second such operation in recent months. In  September, France detained another Russian-linked vessel, the Boracay, which claimed to be flagged in Benin — a move condemned by Russian President Vladimir Putin as “piracy.” The Boracay’s Chinese captain is due to stand trial in France in February.(Bssnews)