The French Navy boarded the oil tanker Deliver, a vessel illegally flying the Cameroonian flag, after it was sanctioned by Yaoundé.
Following the interception of the vessels Tagor and Smyrtos in early June in the English Channel while they were illegally flying the Cameroonian flag, the French Navy intercepted the oil tanker Deliver on Tuesday, June 23, which had been displaying a false Cameroonian flag. “Examination of the documents confirmed doubts about the regularity” of the Cameroonian flag it was flying.
Flying the Cameroonian flag, this vessel had been sanctioned by Yaoundé following incidents involving Tagor and Smyrtos. According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the tanker is believed to belong to the Russian shadow fleet.
“The French Navy boarded the oil tanker Deliver on Tuesday as it was transiting off the coast of Sicily in violation of the law of the sea. This new action against the shadow fleet, carried out a few days after a similar operation by the United Kingdom, demonstrates the determination of the Europeans,” Macron wrote.
“We will not allow the shadow fleet to circumvent sanctions and finance the Russian war effort,” he continued. In recent weeks, the Cameroonian Ministry of Transport has sanctioned and removed 39 vessels from the Cameroonian flag register.
For Yaoundé, these measures will allow for physical inventory and digitalization operations to better control the registered fleet and protect the Cameroonian label.
