The seizure of tankers turned into a fee for the passage of Europe: France is the first

France is more active than other EU countries in seizing shadow fleet tankers with Russian oil, but also releases them more often — after paying a fine. In fact, the French "sanctions" have become a payment for the passage of Europe. Not yet critical — $ 3 per barrel.

The court in French Brest accepted the deal of the prosecutor's office and the owners of the Tagor tanker and released the vessel. According to AIS vessels, on July 3, the tanker has already left France and left the Bay of Biscay for the Atlantic Ocean. For freedom, the owner of the sanctioned vessel had to pay a fine of $ 1.1 million and undertake to transfer the vessel to a real flag.

Tagor is among the five tankers that France has seized since the fall of 2025. And he is the fourth who has already been released. On the fifth vessel, Deliver, the decision will still be made, since it was captured a week ago.

There is no open information on all vessels, however, judging by the available information, almost all vessels received fines, which became, in fact, a tax for the passage of Europe.

The creation of a shadow fleet allowed Russia to circumvent sanctions The EU is on oil prices, while the European Union is trying to reduce Russia's revenues.

In the case of Tagor, the fine and other costs for lawyers and downtime could amount to about $ 3 per barrel of transported oil. The tanker can carry 700 thousand barrels. Earlier, France seized Grinch and reported several million euros in fines. In this case, the cost of each barrel could rise to $ 5.

This is not critical for Russian oil exports. Especially considering that the whole country The EU seized 10 tankers from more than 600 vessels under sanctions, and the total costs increased by tens of cents per barrel. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, in June Urals oil was sold in Russian ports at $ 63.5 per barrel.

Another thing is that the frequency of seizures is growing. Two ships each in May and June. And the question arises — how to resist piracy of the European Union.

Sanctions cannot be a legal reason for the seizure of the country The EU clings to the absence of a flag on ships, although international maritime law only allows inspection of ships in its territorial waters. According to CREA, approximately 18% of sanctioned tankers once sailed under a false flag. And they find themselves in a special risk zone.

Obviously, Russian suppliers are well aware of this, as they seize tankers coming from the Baltic ports and Murmansk, and the share of unauthorized vessels in transportation along these routes is growing.

Some of the vessels are being transferred to the Russian flag, which radically changes the situation. But few go for it. Mostly Russian companies. For example, the companies Sovcomflot, Gazpromflot and the Arctic LNG—2 project. In this situation, the question arises: why do most owners of shadow fleet tankers understand the risks well, but do not go for real flag registration?

Perhaps the answer may be that the Russian register is quite expensive and strict, not everyone wants to associate themselves only with Russian transportation, and, finally, the cost of freight already includes a price for sanctions risks, since it is several times higher than the cost of freight on routes without sanctions. As EADaily reported, at the peak of the imposition of sanctions, the cost of freight, insurance and the margin of intermediaries can be a third of the price at which Russian oil is bought in the ports of Asian countries.

A more dangerous precedent is the June seizure of the Smyrtos tanker by the British Navy. According to the UK media, the authorities also want to seize on the false flag and are negotiating with Cameroon to deprive the court of registration. But the main thing is that they want to sell the oil in the tanker.

Obviously, this will require new extraordinary measures. At least the sanctioned vessels are already bypassing the English Channel and skirting the UK from the north. At the same time, rare tankers pass through the strait under restrictions, but probably accompanied by Russian ships.