It is being reported that on 20 July, the EU’s Mediterranean naval taskforce IRINI boarded the Turkish-owned oil tanker, the South Star, in order to assess and investigate its flag status. Under a different name the vessel had been designated by both the EU and the UK in 2025.
The report states that there was uncertainty over the vessel’s flag status as between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
The vessel was allowed to proceed after the boarding and inspection.
The same reporting refers to IRINI’s published information which says that it had conducted three earlier flag verification boardings during the month of June.
