French court convicts Chinese captain of oil tanker linked to Russian shadow fleet
Chen Zhangjie, who is currently at sea, was jailed for a year in absentia. The Borocay was thought to be transporting Russian oil to India
A French court on Monday issued an arrest warrant and a one-year prison sentence against the Chinese captain of a suspected Russian “shadow fleet” tanker over failing to comply with orders to stop his ship.
The court in the western city of Brest also ordered Chen to pay a €150,000 (US$172,000) fine.
The vessel, claiming to be flagged in Benin, was thought to be part of a fleet transporting Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vessels in the “shadow fleet” frequently change the flags they fly, a practice known as “flag-hopping”, and sometimes sail under invalid flags in an attempt to escape detection and tracking.
When the French navy approached the ship in international waters off western France on September 27, it was thought to be transporting Russian oil to India, without a visible banner.