The captain of a Russian shadow fleet vessel, which was intercepted by British troops, has been charged with contravening sanctions, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, has been charged with contravening Reg 46Z9B Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
He has also been charged with directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil or oil products from Russia to a third country during June 2026, the NCA said on Monday evening.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Royal Marine commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the NCA boarded a sanctioned oil tanker during a six-hour operation – the first UK-led operation of its kind.
According to the MoD, the operation was supported by aircraft from the Maritime Air Group (Chinooks, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat), an RAF P-8 aircraft, HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.
In footage released by the MoD, personnel are shown boarding the vessel in the dark by fast-roping from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
Further video clips show personnel armed with KS-1 rifles conducting searches of cabins aboard the vessel, while officers from the NCA inspect documentation and paperwork.
It is understood 24 Georgian and Indian crew members remain on board and are assisting with the investigation. The vessel Smyrtos remains at anchorage off Weymouth, in Dorset.
Pant will appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
It is understood that Sunday’s operation was the result of months of planning.
Starmer said in March that the UK would join northern European allies in intercepting Russia’s shadow fleet, in an attempt to “go after” the sanction-breaking ships “even harder”.
Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to be made up of more than a thousand ageing tankers that illicitly ship oil and other goods out of Russia by flying the flags of other countries, with the aim of evading sanctions imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Closing off British waters to the shadow fleet is aimed at forcing the Russian vessels into taking longer, more costly sea routes, or risk being intercepted by the UK.
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