FRENCH troops reportedly swooped on a suspected Russian vessel over fears it helped launch drones into Nato airspace.
The ghost oil tanker is one of the three ships said to be part of Vladimir Putin’s “Shadow Fleet”, which are being probed after Europe’s drone menace.
Marine Traffic/ Gianluca BalloniThe PUSHPA (pictured) has been named by Ukraine as a possible Russian asset[/caption]
French soldiers boarded the ship PUSHPA, which was seized off the coast of Saint-Nazaire, Le Parisien reports.
It raised eyebrows after it was spotted sailing close to the Danish coast on the night of the drone attack, which forced Copenhagen airport to shut.
Also called Boracay, the Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union, was stationed off Denmark from September 22 to 25, according to ship tracking data.
According to the specialist website The Maritime Executive, the 801-foot vessel is suspected of being involved in mystery drone flights that disrupted air traffic in Denmark in September.
President Emmanuel Macron today said that France was probing the ship for “serious offences”.
But he stopped short of confirming reports of a connection to the Denmark drone flights.
“There were some very serious offences committed by this crew, which justify the current judicial procedure,” Macron told reporters at an EU leaders’ summit in Copenhagen.
Built in 2007, the ship has been anchored off Saint-Nazaire in western France for several days.
Suspicions are that other tankers and ships could have been used either as launch platforms or as decoys.
Maritime data shows that another ship called Astrol 1 sailed through the Øresund Strait on the night of the drone sightings.
Danish media reported that the vessel made unusual manoeuvres during thr attack, forcing authorities to monitor it closely.
Another ship called Oslo Carrier 3 was located just seven kilometres from Copenhagen Airport during the drone attack, Marine Insight reports.
All three ships, sanctioned and suspected to be part of Russia’s notorious “shadow fleet” were being probed.
But when asked about those claims, Macron said he would “remain very careful”, as it was not for him to establish a link between the Boracay and the drone flights.
Putin’s notorious ‘Shadow Fleet’
These sanctions, including price caps on Russian oil, aim to curtail Moscow’s revenues.
However, the shadow fleet allows Russia to continue exporting oil globally while avoiding Western controls.
This fleet is composed of older, poorly maintained vessels often operating without reputable Western insurance, relying instead on obscure providers or none at all.
To evade detection, the fleet employs tactics such as turning off tracking systems, falsifying location data, and conducting ship-to-ship transfers at sea to disguise the oil’s origin.
Its opaque operations and lack of oversight create vulnerabilities for maritime safety and international law enforcement.
It comes after Nato ramped up its air defences after mysterious drones continued to menace military bases and airports across Europe.
More drones were spotted over multiple Danish military establishments over the weekend – just days after Copenhagen airport was shut down due to drone sightings.
And on Saturday, suspected drones swooped over Denmark’s largest military base – sparking security fears.
A spokesperson for Nato said it has “enhanced vigilance” in the Baltic Sea following the intrusions.
The reinforced measures “include multiple intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms and at least one air-defence frigate” in the region to the west of Russia, alliance spokesman Martin O’Donnell said.
Denmark has installed a scanning radar at Copenhagen Airport after repeated drone run-ins.
The XENTA-M5 radar will give Denmark’s Ministry of Defence state-of-the-art 3D surveillance of the airspace and help them identify any threats.
It comes as German Navy frigate FGS Hamburg F220 – a Nato air defence frigate – was docked in Copenhagen to strengthen surveillance in the Baltic Sea.
Commander Arlo Abrahamson, spokesman for Nato’s Naval Command (MARCOM), said: “FGS Hamburg’s presence close to Denmark sends a clear signal of security and unity in the alliance.”
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