Belgium seizes Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker

Belgium’s special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker from the “shadow fleet” Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the government said on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said the vessel was intercepted in the North Sea during an overnight operation.

“Today, a vessel from Russia’s shadow fleet was intercepted in the North Sea,” Prevot wrote on X, thanking Belgian special forces for their “exceptional professionalism and courage.”