LONDON: British prosecutors on Monday charged with sanctions contravention offences the Indian captain of an interdicted alleged Russian shadow fleet vessel seized in the Channel, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
It follows British armed forces on Sunday intercepting the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos -- said to belong to Russia's shadow fleet -- in a dramatic operation hailed by Kyiv and London as a blow to Moscow's war machine.
British commandos boarded the ship off the southern English coast by fast-roping from a helicopter in the dark, according to defence ministry footage released, in the first such UK-led operation.
"Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, has been charged," the NCA said in a Monday evening statement.
It alleged he had contravened sanctions by "directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil / oil products from Russia to a third country during the period of June 2026".
The statement noted the Crown Prosecution Service -- responsible for criminal charging decisions in England and Wales -- authorised the move "following a review of the file submitted by the NCA".
Pant will appear at Southampton Magistrates' Court in the southern English city on Tuesday, according to the agency.
It said Smyrtos's 24 crew members, from Georgia and India, remain on board the vessel.
'Stateless' ship
Earlier, British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander ordered the ship be detained, formally preventing it from leaving UK waters.
The tanker, which sailed under the flag of Cameroon but is described as "stateless" by the British government, remains anchored off Weymouth, in Dorset.
Britain's defence ministry confirmed Sunday it was the first UK-led operation of its kind.
The country has sanctioned hundreds of vessels suspected of being part of the shadow fleet used by Russia to bypass Western embargoes since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The ships -- usually ageing tankers with obscure ownership and doubtful insurance -- are banned from accessing UK ports and services.
According to the MarineTraffic website, Smyrtos had left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on June 5, with Port Said, Egypt, listed as its destination.
In March, the British government announced that UK forces would be able to board and seize suspected shadow fleet vessels passing through its waters.
The announcement followed the easing of restrictions by Washington on Russian oil to soften prices sent soaring by the US-Israel war against Iran.
France, Belgium, Finland and other European countries have also recently seized sanction-busting vessels believed to belong to the so-called shadow fleet.
