UK Seizes Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker in English Channel First

British Royal Marines and National Crime Agency officers boarded the *Smyrtos*, a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, in the English Channel on June 14, 2026—the UK's first interdiction of a shadow fleet vessel. The 244-metre tanker, formerly renamed and reflagged multiple times, was travelling at 10 knots when intercepted. The operation signals that Channel transits carrying unsanctioned Russian crude now face concrete operational risk.