A Russian oil tanker sailing under a Mozambican flag of convenience has been detained in the French port of Marseille since Monday
Fernando Lima
Deyna, the oil tanker seized off Marseille, France, by the French navy. Photo: French presidency
A Russian oil tanker sailing under a Mozambican flag of convenience has been detained in the French port of Marseille since Monday.
Zitamar News understands that the vessel was intercepted on 20 March off the Algerian coast in an operation involving a Gibraltar-based fast patrol boat, an unnamed French frigate, and a Dauphin helicopter, which deployed special forces onto the ship. Images of the interception were released by the French navy and shared on X by President Emmanuel Macron.
Zitamar News has also learned that Mozambique’s ambassador to France, Alberto Maverengue, attended the French foreign ministry on Thursday to seek clarification on the seizure.
“Both Mozambican and French authorities have confirmed that the use of the Mozambican flag by the Russian vessel was not known to Mozambique’s competent authorities,” official sources told Zitamar.
The vessel, Deyna, is an Aframax-class tanker measuring 250 metres in length, with a capacity of 112,000 tonnes of crude oil. Built in 2005 at Hyundai shipyards in South Korea, it is registered to Hedyna Co, a Hong Kong-based company believed to be a front, and operated by Sino Ship Management Co.
According to the French navy, the crew at the time of interception consisted of sailors from China, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Intelligence sources from navies involved in the operation say the Deyna forms part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, used to circumvent sanctions imposed by the European Union and Ukraine’s allies.
The vessel entered Russian territorial waters on 22 February and loaded crude oil at the northern port of Murmansk between 25 and 27 February. On 25 February it switched to flying the Mozambican flag, but spent several days during this period without transmitting its international tracking signal. The ship has previously sailed under flags of convenience from Greece, Indonesia and Panama.
On the vessel-tracking website MarineTraffic, the tanker is listed under the Mozambican flag with Port Said, Egypt, as its destination, where it had been expected to arrive on Thursday 26 March after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar on 18 March.
The French navy acknowledged intelligence support from European partners and the United Kingdom in the operation targeting the Deyna.
Zitamar News has submitted a written request to the Russian embassy in Maputo seeking clarification on the vessel’s use of the Mozambican flag, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
