The British Navy has boarded and confiscated an oil tanker, reportedly operating under a false Cameroonian flag
Breaking News learned that the British Navy has boarded and confiscated an oil tanker, Smyrtos, which was reportedly operating under a false Cameroonian flag to sneak sanctioned Russian oil onto the international market.
Armed marines dropped from a helicopter and boarded the vessel in a nighttime operation along the English Channel.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the seizure as “another blow to Russia,” whose crude oil has been under Western sanctions since its war on Ukraine began in 2022.
This was the first Russia-linked tanker seized by the British Navy since the sanctions were imposed.
The seized vessel had been carrying the Cameroonian flag illegally, said Cameroon Transport Minister Jean Ernest Massina Ngale Bibehe in a statement on Monday, June 15.
He said the ship Smirtos was delisted from the country’s maritime registers on May 26, 2026, making it the 39th ship Cameroon has delisted in the recent past.
He added that the country “cannot be held liable for any unlawful activities carried out by that vessel”.
The seizure came barely two weeks after French authorities, in collaboration with the British, intercepted TAGOR, another Russia-linked oil tanker flying the Cameroonian flag, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cameroonian authorities denied knowledge of that vessel and strongly criticised the misuse of its national flag.
Both seized vessels are part of what the West classifies as a “shadow fleet,” a network of tankers operating across international waters to sneak Russian crude to market and evade sanctions.
Cameroon has repeatedly condemned the fraudulent use of its flag by unauthorised vessels and has called on the international maritime community to take drastic measures against such abuses.
The British Navy has boarded and confiscated an oil tanker, reportedly operating under a false Cameroonian flag
