'Why?': Detained Russia ship boarded by Royal Marines sailed in English Channel weeks before being seized
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The ship was carrying 98,000 tonnes of oil when she was intercepted
A Russian shadow fleet vessel detained after being boarded by Royal Marines passed through English Channel three weeks before being intercepted.
MV Smyrtos briefly entered into the UK’s exclusive economic zone between May 24 and 25, according to the Department for Transport. The sanctioned oil tanker was later intercepted in the early hours of June 14, when Royal Marine commandos and law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency boarded the vessel.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty has questioned why the vessel was intercepted in June but not the previous month. Responding to a written parliamentary question from Mr Obese-Jecty, transport minister Keir Mather said the Smyrtos had completed a passage through the English Channel once since the end of March.
It was heading for the Baltic across May 24-25. “This was on the French side of the traffic separation scheme but included brief entries into the UK’s exclusive economic zone,” Mr Mather wrote.
When the vessel was seized in June, Smyrtos was sailing under the Cameroonian flag, according to the MarineTraffic website. Data from the platform showed it left Ust-Luga, Russia, on June 5, with Port Said, Egypt, listed as its destination. The operation to seize the vessel was supported by Chinooks, a Merlin Mk4 and a Wildcat helicopter, an RAF P-8 aircraft, HMS Sutherland and the Portsmouth-based minehunter HMS Ledbury.
Russia uses a network of vessels, often stateless or flying a false flag, to carry approximately 75 per cent of its sanctioned oil around the world, according to the UK Government. This allows Moscow to circumvent international sanctions and earn money, which it can use to support its invasion of Ukraine. Smyrtos remains anchored in the English Channel, near Weymouth.
Mr Obese-Jecty said: “There is the questions of why the Russian sanctioned vessel was allowed to transit through the Channel the first time. What was the fact that prompted the interdiction on June 14 that wasn’t relevant on May 24-25?”
The ship was carrying 98,000 tonnes of oil when she was intercepted. Her Captain, Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, is in custody and previously appeared in court. His charges include directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil or oil products from Russia to a third country in June 2026, in contravention of Regulation 46Z9B of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
The case will next be heard during a plea and trial preparation hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court on July 16.