We check the UK "weakly": a Russian tanker under sanctions entered the English Channel

The tanker under the Russian flag and sanctions entered the English Channel. This is the first call after the seizure of the Smyrtos tanker on Sunday. The vessel is followed by a patrol ship of the British Navy.

After the seizure of the Smyrtos tanker on Sunday, the first vessel with Russian oil and under sanctions entered the English Channel. According to AIS vessels, the Forwarder tanker follows from Ust-Luga to China and transports up to 115 thousand tons of oil.

The vessel is under EU, UK and US sanctions.

The tanker is followed by the British Navy patrol ship HMS Tyne. They are separated by five miles. At the same time, the Russian tanker is already leaving the narrowest section of the strait, where it is divided only into the territorial waters of Great Britain and France, and will soon be in international waters.

The main difference between Forwarder and Smyrtos is that the first one flies the Russian flag. Obviously, this will be a test of whether London will decide to take action against Russian vessels, since sanctions cannot even be a reason for inspecting a vessel and previously the UK and the country The EU used the tankers' lack of a flag as an excuse.

In addition, the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich may also be in the English Channel. The day before, he was in the strait and fired warning shots for the yacht, which was on an intersecting course.

As EADaily reported, after the seizure of the tanker, the sanctioned vessels stopped passing through the English Channel, and are now bypassing the UK through the north. Ships with Russian oil that are not under sanctions continue to pass through the strait. The captured Smyrtos tanker itself is 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. The British, in turn, hope that Cameroon will cancel the registration of the vessel and the tanker will be without a flag.

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 in a year the country The EU was captured and checked on 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.