Italians boarded a tanker belonging to russia’s ‘shadow fleet’

This is according to Reuters.

It is not yet known whether the vessel was detained whilst the inspections were taking place.

Initially, the ship’s captain refused to cooperate, forcing a group of Italian military personnel to board the vessel from a helicopter launched from the ‘Taon di Revel’ — the flagship of the EU’s EUNAVFOR MED ‘Irini’ operation.

The inspection, carried out with the support of a Greek vessel and a Polish maritime patrol aircraft, lasted around two hours and concluded without incident, the ministry said.

The Italian authorities are examining the documents obtained during the inspection.

EUNAVFOR MED “Irini” is an EU naval mission launched in 2020 with the aim of ensuring compliance with the UN arms embargo on Libya.

Since then, EU governments have expanded its powers, granting it the right to inspect vessels suspected of sailing under false flags.

Source: Ekonomichna Pravda