The French Navy boarded the Deliver, an oil tanker illegally flying the Cameroonian flag, because Yaoundé had placed sanctions on it.

Following the interception of the Tagor and Smyrtos vessels early June in the English Channel—both sailing under false Cameroonian flags—French naval forces stopped the Deliver on Tuesday, 23 June. The tanker was reportedly displaying a fraudulent Cameroonian flag. “An examination of the documents confirmed doubts about the regularity” of the Cameroonian flag being flown.

Although the Deliver flew the Cameroonian flag, Yaoundé had sanctioned it after the incidents involving the Tagor and Smyrtos. In the view of French President Emmanuel Macron, this tanker likely belongs to Russia’s shadow fleet.

“The French Navy intercepted the oil tanker Deliver on Tuesday as it was sailing off the coast of Sicily, in violation of the law of the sea. This new action against the shadow fleet, taken just days after a similar operation by the United Kingdom, shows the determination of Europeans,” Macron wrote.

“We will not allow the shadow fleet to bypass sanctions and finance Russia’s war effort,” he added. Over the past few weeks, Cameroon’s transport ministry has sanctioned and removed 39 vessels from its registry.

For Yaoundé, these measures will enable physical inventory and digitalization operations to better control the registered fleet and protect the Cameroonian label.