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Suspected Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker inspected by European naval forces in Mediterranean
🇬🇷 Greece /Conflict & Security

Suspected Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker inspected by European naval forces in Mediterranean

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Ongoing story
  • EU naval forces from Operation Irini boarded the oil tanker MV SUN in the Mediterranean on Aug. 30 to verify its flag, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
  • The vessel was suspected of sailing under a false flag in violation of international maritime law and of belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
  • Operation Irini was established in 2020 to help enforce the U.N. arms embargo on Libya and later received authority to conduct verification boardings.

European naval forces boarded the oil tanker MV SUN in the Mediterranean after it came under suspicion of sailing under a false flag and belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the boarding took place on Aug. 30. She said the mission aimed to verify the vessel’s flag and described the suspected conduct as a violation of international maritime law.

The operation was carried out by EUNAVFOR MED Irini, the EU’s naval mission in the Mediterranean. The mission was created in 2020 to strengthen enforcement of a United Nations arms embargo on Libya.

EU governments have since expanded Irini’s mandate, authorizing its forces to board vessels for verification purposes.

The oil tanker MV SUN, suspected of sailing under a false flag in violation of international maritime law, was boarded on Aug. 30 in the Mediterranean by forces from Operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini to verify its flag.

— Kaja KallasThe EU foreign policy chief described the boarding in a post on X.
About this summary

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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