Patrol boats flooded the English Channel: tankers with oil from Russia was bypassed

After the seizure of the Smyrtos tanker in the territorial waters of the United Kingdom in the English Channel, the strait was flooded with patrol boats of the country and vessels under sanctions bypassed the strait.

The tankers, which are under sanctions and carry Russian oil and oil products, bypassed the English Channel after Sunday's seizure of Smyrtos. According to AIS vessels, Albion is bypassed from the Atlantic Ocean by both tankers coming from the Baltic and those returning.

For example, Delivery and Chios transport 150 thousand tons and 159 thousand tons of oil and have already bypassed the UK and enter the usual route near the Bay of Biscay. They are met by C Viking, which transports petroleum products and returns from Brazil.

Judging by the data, vessels that are not under restrictions continue to carry Russian oil along the usual route, and all tankers that are included in the sanctions lists choose a workaround, whereas vessels. So, Arlan carries 160 thousand tons from Ust-Luga and set a course to bypass the UK from the north immediately after leaving the Baltic Sea.

The detour increases the route by about 400 miles, which will take ships from 25 to 40 hours depending on speed.

In the English Channel itself, you can see the extraordinary activity of the British and French Navies. At the narrowest 40-mile section, in which the strait consists only of the territorial waters of Great Britain and France, at least 6 patrol boats of Great Britain and three of France can be seen.

On the eve of the British Navy seized the Smyrtos tanker, which carries 106 thousand tons of oil.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that London is hitting Russia's revenues. At the same time, he did not dwell on the legal basis of the seizure. And it has nothing to do with sanctions. The official statement of the government says that the seizure of the tanker was carried out under the pretext of environmental and technical danger of the vessel. Smyrtos is the first tanker seized in the EU that does not fly a false flag, and EU countries still have a reason to check the tanker under International Maritime Law only if the vessel poses a real threat to the environment.

According to AIS ships, Smyrtos stands at Portland in the English Channel. And the British authorities, despite the age of the ship at 17, may have to seriously try to find some inconsistencies on the ship. According to Equasis, the vessel regularly undergoes technical inspections and was last inspected in August 2025 in China.

In this situation, it is difficult for Russia to take any legal actions, since the sanctions courts have nothing to do with Russia, except for the cargo itself. After the tightening of sanctions, only a small part of the tankers of the so-called shadow fleet passed under the Russian flag.

Its composition is estimated at more than half a thousand tankers and for the year of the country The EU was captured and checked for no more than a dozen. Therefore, in general, this does not affect Russian oil exports, but at least for now the shares are more of an advertising nature for European leaders with low ratings in their countries. For example, the President of France and the Prime Minister of Great Britain were the first to declare the seizure of vessels.