The British Ministry of Defense announced on June 14 that its forces deployed a 6-hour operation in the early morning, with the support of aircraft, including Chinook transport helicopters, and naval ships such as the HMS Sutherland frigate to intercept the Russian oil tanker.
This is the first operation led by Britain in such a form. The SMYRTOS ship was inspected by the British Royal Marine Corps commando and specially trained law enforcement officers of the National Crime Agency (NCA) on board.
The oil tanker SMYRTOS will be brought to an offshore anchorage off the southern coast of England for monitoring.
British Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis said that the operation was carried out by Britain in close coordination with France.
Britain has imposed sanctions on hundreds of ships suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow oil fleet to avoid Western sanctions since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. These ships, mostly old oil tankers, with unclear ownership structures, are prohibited from accessing British ports and services.
In March this year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government announced that British forces would be allowed to board and confiscate ships of the Shadow Fleet when ships passed through British waters.
This announcement was made after Washington eased some restrictions on Russian oil to cool down energy prices that skyrocketed due to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.
Recently, France, Belgium, Finland and some other European countries have also arrested ships suspected of violating sanctions and related to the Russian oil-carrying "dark fleet".
