Deliver Oil Tanker Detained by French Navy Escorted to Anchorage Near Marseille

PARIS, June 26. /TASS/. The Deliver oil tanker, detained by the French Navy on suspicion of sailing under a false flag, has been escorted to its anchorage in the Gulf of Foz-sur-Mer near Marseille, the Maritime Prefect of the Mediterranean Sea zone said.

"The vessel will be anchored and will remain at the disposal of the Prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille as part of an investigation into suspected flag violations," the prefect said in a statement.

During the investigation, the area where the ship is parked will be zoned off - closed to navigation and flights. The vessel will be monitored by the Marine gendarmerie and the French Navy.

On June 25, French President Emmanuel Macron said tanker Deliver had been detained near Sicily. According to him, the tanker allegedly belongs to the so-called Russian shadow fleet and "passed near Sicily in violation of maritime law."

According to the Maritime Prefect of the Mediterranean, the ship was sailing under the flag of Cameroon from Primorsk.

France conducted this operation jointly with the United Kingdom.

An official at the Russian embassy in France told TASS that the detention was illegal and described it as the latest example of piracy by Western countries. The official called "references to the tanker's violation of "international sanctions" untenable, adding that "unilateral restrictions by the European Union are not such, since the UN Security Council has not approved them." According to preliminary data, there are no Russian citizens among the tanker.