Further to our earlier post, the owner of the “shadow fleet” vessel the MV Deyna, agreed in a Marseilles Court on Wednesday to pay an undisclosed fine for the release of the vessel.
The owner admitted that it had no evidence to support the vessel’s alleged Mozambique flag status.
Upon payment the vessel was released and is now reported to have left French waters.
Further to our earlier posts, a court in Paris had today handed down judgment in the long-running Lafarge prosecution.
The company has been convicted of breaches of the EU’s Syrian sanctions as well as terrorist financing and has been fined €1.125m as well as a separate fine of €4.57m for breach of sanctions.
Of the executives also being prosecuted:
– Bruno Pescheux (former director of the Syrian cement factory) received a 5-year jail term and was fined €225,000;
– Bruno Lafont (former Lafarge CEO) was sentenced to 6 years in jail and fined €225,000;
– Christian Herrault (former deputy Managing Director) was sentenced to five years in jail and fined €225,000;
– Frederic Jolibois (successor to Pescheux) was sentenced to three years in jail, two of which were suspended, and fined €80,000;
– Jacob Waerness was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined €20,000 and a ban from entering France;
– Ahmad Al Jaloudi was sentenced to 2 years in jail and fined €20,000 and a ban from entering France;
– Amro Taleb, a Syrian intermediary, was sentenced to 3 years in jail and fined and fined €60,000 and a ban from entering France;
– Firas Tlass, tried in absentia, was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail with a €225,000 fine and a ban from entering France.
It appears that a decision on the confiscation of the proceeds of crime in this case is awaited. The prosecution was seeking confiscation of €30m.
Some of the individual defendants have already indicated their intention to appeal.
On Friday 3 April, the Swedish Coast Guard boarded and seized control of the sanctioned “shadow fleet” tanker the Flora 1. The vessel is suspected of having caused a 12 km (8 mile) oil spill in the Baltic Sea near the island of Gotland.
The vessel was then anchored off Ystad.
The Coast Guard’s press release states that the vessel’s flag status is uncertain, and states that “this is the first time we have been able to trace a discharge to a vessel subject to sanctions, and which may be suspected of environmental crimes”.
We have updated our vessel seizure tracker.
The vessel has since been released, with the Coast Guard citing a lack of evidence linking the vessel to the oil spill, and that the Coast Guard had been able to confirm the flag status of the vessel.
Further to our earlier post relating to the trial of the captain of the Boracay, the shadow fleet vessel seized by France in October 2025.
The trial has concluded with the Chinese national captain, Chen Zhangjie, sentenced to a year’s jail and ordered to pay a fine of €150,000.
As the captain was tried in absentia, the French authorities have issued an arrest warrant for him.
The offence that was the basis of the conviction was for failing to stop the Boracay when ordered to do so.
Finland’s Customs has issued a press release relating to a criminal investigation into the alleged export of 135 trucks and 29 trailers to Russia from Finland in 2022 and 2023.
It is alleged that the destination of the exports was Kazakhstan or Turkey with Russia only as used for transit, but that the vehicles remained in Russia. The vehicles are valued at €17m.
One individual, the owner of the company, has been detained pending further investigation on suspicion of an aggravated sanctions offence, and two employees are also suspects.
Finland’s Customs does not name the company involved, but press reporting has suggested it is Idän Liikennevälitys IL oy from Lappeenranta.
Customs also state that this case is part of a larger investigation into the export of 558 trucks and 45 trailers to Russia valued at €79m.
The same Customs press release states the during 2025 Customs identified 43 sanctions offences of which 17 were classed as “aggravated”.
On Friday the French authorities, with British Royal Navy support, boarded and seized the tanker the MV Deyna which was sailing from Murmansk to Port Said. It was off the coast of Algeria in the western Mediterranean at the time of the boarding.
The MV Deyna is a designated vessel under the EU’s Russian sanctions and a specified ship under the UK’s Russian sanctions.
The vessel is registered in Mozambique and said to be carrying Russian crude.
According to data from Vesselfinder.com the tanker is now off the southern coast of France at Fos-sur-Mer.
The same website indicates that it left its last port on 1 March. If this date is right, and the vessel was carrying Russian crude, then it would have been benefitting from the US sanctions waiver for Russian crude that was “on the water” as of 12 March at the time that it was seized.
This serves as a reminder, if one were needed, of the complexities of navigating the interlocking and overlapping sanctions regimes that are in place.
Further to our earlier post, following raids in November 2025, the German authorities have issued a press release reporting on the charging of a 57-year old from Dessau-Rosslau, with exporting €7.6m worth of luxury cars to Russia in breach of EU sanctions.
It is alleged that he has been responsible for the export of 236 cars, and is facing 154 charges.
On Thursday the Swedish authorities seized the oil tanker the Sea Owl I, in Swedish water.
The vessel was claiming to be flagged in the Comorros, but the authorities are alleging that the paperwork was forged.
It is also being reported that the crew has been questioned by the Swedish Prosecution Authority and that captain of the vessel has been arrested and has been ordered to be held in custody pending further investigations.
This is the second vessel seized by Sweden in as many weeks.
There have been some high-profile examples of this in the last month or so, but the practice can be seen to have started years ago, while the number of examples made it sensible to gather them all in one place.
The vessels are not all oil tankers but also include bulk cargo carriers and container vessels:
26 February 2022 – France seizes the Baltic Leader
20 April 2022 – Greece seizes the Lana
10 January 2025 – Germany seizes the Eventin
17 January 2025 – Finland seizes the Eagle S
14 April 2025 – Estonia seizes the Kiwala
6 October 2025 – France seizes the Boracay
– Captain convicted in absentia and given a year’s jail
23 December 2025 – Sweden seizes the Adler
2 January 2026 – Finland seizes the Fitburg
19 January 2026 – Italy seizes the Hizir Reis
27 January 2026 – France seizes the Grinch
– Owner fined “millions” to obtain vessel’s release
20 February 2026 – Denmark seizes the Nora
2 March 2026 – Belgium seizes the Ethera
– Owner required to pay €10m to secure release. Being appealed.
9 March 2026 – Sweden seizes the Caffa
– Prosecutors seeking confiscation of vessel
Updates since original post:
16 March 2026 – Sweden seizes the Sea Owl I
23 March 2026 – France seizes the Deyna
– Owner paid undisclosed fine to obtain vessel’s release
3 April 2026 – Sweden seizes the Flora 1
– The vessel has since been released
5 May 2026 – Sweden seizes the Jin Hui
On Saturday Swedish authorities took control of the cargo vessel, Caffa. Video of the seizure has been released.
It is being reported that the authorities suspect that the vessel, carrying a cargo of grain, may have been sailing under a false Guinean flag.
A Russian national crew member has been arrested on suspicion of using false documents.
