The Cameroon-flagged vessel will now be moved to the south coast of England and monitored for any environmental and safety concerns, the ministry said, adding that it was boarded under United Nations maritime law.
The incident marks the first time the U.K. has intercepted a Russian-linked vessel since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. France, Estonia and Finland have previously boarded suspicious ships, as Ukraine’s European backers increasingly opt for a more muscular approach in enforcing sanctions against Russia.
The Times previously reported that the Royal Navy had not carried out any seizures of Russian-linked vessels over concerns that maintaining the vessels would cost tens of millions of pounds.
Moscow has relied on a mushrooming network of aging tankers, with opaque ownership structures and little-known insurance providers after the G7 imposed a price limit on Russian oil exports in 2022. The country relies on more than 700 of these tankers to export three-quarters of its oil.
In response, the EU and U.K. have sanctioned more than 600 Russian-linked vessels.
“Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin’s illegal war,” said British Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis.