For the first time, Britain has also seized a suspected tanker from the Russian shadow fleet. Royal Marine Commandos and officials from the National Crime Agency (NCA) boarded the Cameroonian-flagged Smyrtos from helicopters in the early hours of Sunday in the Channel. The Marines were supported by the frigate HMS Sutherland, the minehunter HMS Ledbury, and a Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
Footage released by the British Ministry of Defence shows the forces boarding via fast-roping from Merlin-type helicopters. During the six-hour operation, an Indian national aged 38 was arrested on suspicion of sanctions violations. Twenty-four other Indian and Georgian crew members reportedly cooperated with the investigation.
First boarding operation by the Royal Marines
The vessel was put into service in 2009 as Myrtos under the Greek flag and was re-flagged to Malta in 2016. Since 2025 it has been under sanctions by the EU, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Ukraine, received its current name, and has sailed under the flags of Panama and The Gambia. It was currently coming from the Russian port of Ust-Luga. So far, mainly the United States and France, but also Finland and Sweden, have repeatedly seized ships belonging to the shadow fleets connected to Russia as well as Iran for sanctions violations.
In March, the British government had also announced its intention to take such measures. However, this has not happened so far, perhaps partly due to escorts for suspicious ships by the Russian navy. The government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer could probably use a success story, because in the past week the former Defence Secretary John Healey resigned amid a dispute over inadequate defence spending.
