The captain of a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker, seized by UK commandos in the English Channel, is set to appear in a British court. Ajay Pant, a 38-year-old Indian national, will face Southampton Magistrates Court on charges of violating sanctions, the National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed.
Pant, who captained the vessel Smyrtos, is also accused of directly or indirectly supplying or transporting prohibited Russian oil or oil products to a third country in June 2026. The tanker was intercepted early Sunday by Royal Marine commandos and NCA officers in the first UK-led operation to capture a sanctioned vessel.
The Smyrtos is currently anchored off Weymouth, Dorset, under surveillance. The 24 crew members, from Georgia and India, remain onboard. According to the Ministry of Defence, Russia's shadow fleet carries 75% of the country's sanctioned oil, operating under obscure ownership to evade international sanctions. The UK has sanctioned over 500 of the 700 vessels in the fleet.
Government Response
Speaking on Sky News after the capture, Lisa Nandy said: 'One of the instructions the prime minister gave early on was that he wanted us to be on the front foot, taking that decisive action in order to keep the country safe and deal with the threat posed by Russia. We've been able to successfully do that. I want to pay tribute to all the Navy officers involved in that; it is no small achievement, but it is also a significant blow to the Russians.'
In a separate operation on June 1, another sanctioned oil tanker suspected of being part of the shadow fleet was intercepted with UK support.
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