A court in France on March 30 issued an arrest warrant and sentenced the Chinese captain of a oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia's "dark fleet" to 1 year in prison for failing to comply with the ship stop order.
Captain Chen Zhangjie (39 years old) was indicted after the French Navy boarded the oil tanker Boracay in September 2025. France released the ship and crew a few days after the incident.
The court in the city of Brest also ordered Chen Zhangjie to pay a fine of 150,000 euros ($172,000).
The Benin flagship is believed to be part of the Russian oil transport fleet to evade sanctions imposed by the West on Russia after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
Ships in the "dark fleet" frequently change flags, called "flag-jumping", and sometimes move while hanging invalid flags to avoid being detected and tracked.
When the French Navy approached the Boracay ship in international waters off the west coast of France on September 27, 2025, the ship was believed to be transporting Russian oil to India and did not fly a flag.
According to the investigation, the French Navy informed Boracay that it would board the ship for a nationality check.
An hour later, the crew hoisted the Benin flag, but officials in Porto Novo informed Paris that no oil tankers were registered in this country.
During detention, the captain of the Boracay ship told French authorities that he initially did not allow flying flags because of the weather. "It's raining and you don't fly flags when it's raining," he said.
Captain Chen Zhangjie was also accused of delaying the permission for French authorities to board the ship, saying he was waiting for permission from the ship owner.
The Boracay, now renamed Phoenix and flying the Russian flag. The ship was in the Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia on March 30, according to tanker tracking website Marine Traffic.
The captain's lawyer - Mr. Henri de Richemont - called the ruling "completely incomprehensible". He argued that the French court has no jurisdiction to rule in this case because the ship is in international waters.
Two employees of a Russian private security company were on board the Boracay ship when the French Navy intercepted the ship, a well-informed source in France and captain Chen Zhangjie's lawyer revealed to AFP. The source said that these 2 employees are responsible for representing Russia's interests and collecting intelligence.
The European Union listed 598 ships, suspected of belonging to Russia's "dark fleet", banned from entering ports and using European maritime services.
