France seizes Russian ‘shadow fleet’ oil tanker in Indian Ocean

France’s navy detained an oil tanker called the DF Peak that belongs to the “shadow fleet” on October 12, French President Emmanuel Macron said.The tanker was detained more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Authorities suspect it was flying a false flag and illegally transporting fuel.According to data from Marinetraffic, the tanker was sailing under Benin’s flag and was headed to the port of Cruz Grande in Chile. It wasn’t clear where the vessel had sailed from.The magazine Maritime Executive writes that the tanker was built in 2006 and originally belonged to the company Sovcomflot, sailing under the name NS Captain. It was renamed Kaliningrad in 2024 and took its current name in 2025. Its operator is now a company based in Hong Kong.Maritime Executive also says that Benin’s national registry, whose flag the tanker flies, was once “considered a haven for Russia-linked shadow fleet vessels.” The U.S. sanctioned the tanker in February 2024. The European Union, Switzerland, Canada, the U.K., and Ukraine followed with sanctions of their own.France has detained tankers belonging to the “shadow fleet,” including some reportedly linked to Russia, several times since the start of 2026. In January, French authorities detained the tanker Grinch. In March, they detained the tanker Deyna, which was allowed to leave the port of Marseille a month later. In June, French authorities detained the tankers Tagor and Deliver. Also in mid-June, the U.K. detained a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker for the first time after it tried to pass through the English Channel.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.