France Starts Trail of Shadow Tanker Captain Charged with Disobeying Orders
A French court in Brest was due to begin the trial in absentia of the Chinese captain aboard the sanctioned shadow fleet tanker Boracay. France detailed the vessel in September 2025 to investigate its registration, and they allege the captain “failed to obey” orders from the French troops sent to interdict the vessel.
The tanker has been linked to shadow fleet operations dating back to 2022, and reports indicate it has made numerous trips between the Russian oil terminal at Primorsk and China. The UK sanctioned the ship in October 2024, and the EU followed in February 2025.
The ship has had a shadowy history of multiple names and reported flags, which led to Estonia detaining the tanker in May 2025 when it was identifying as the Kiwala. It was claiming a registry in Djibouti, which the Estonians said could not be confirmed. Djibouti, however, said it would give the ship a temporary flag to provide it time to find a new registry. Estonia also conducted a port state inspection, reporting 40 deficiencies.
In September, it showed up at the Russian terminal using the name Pushpa and claiming to be registered in Benin. There were also reports linking the tanker around the same time as one of three suspects in an incident with drones flying over Copenhagen Airport.
The French authorities stopped the ship off the coast near Saint Nazaire and ordered the ship to anchor. It ultimately complied, but France took that captain and first officer into custody and changed that they had not obeyed orders. The captain was ordered to stand trial, which was starting on February 23.
As the trial was due to start, Agence France Presse (AFP) is reporting that French authorities had discovered two Russians aboard the tanker when it was searched in September. One of them is reported to be a former police officer who had also worked for the notorious Wagner mercenary group. Both of them were working for the Moran Security Group, which AFP reports was started by former officers of Russia’s FSB security service.
Lawyers for the Chinese ship captain confirmed to AFP that the two Russians were on the tanker, saying they “represented the cargo.” The report also quotes sources that the two “security guards” were there to protect the vessel and ensure the captain followed orders “given in line with Russian interests.” There are also claims that they were gathering “intelligence.”
AFP reports that the lawyers were planning to challenge France’s jurisdiction to stop the tanker and detain the captain, a Chinese national named Chen Zhangjue. He will not be present in the court. They are claiming the ship was in international waters, and as such, the UN establishes jurisdiction as either the captain’s home country or the ship’s flag state.
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As the Boracay/Pushpa likely did not have a flag state, the situation is further complicated. The ship had also previously claimed Gambia and Malawi. After claiming Benin, it is now shown as registered in Russia.
France released the ship after a few days, and it reappeared in 2026 using the name Phoenix or Feniks. Its registered owners are shown as a company in the Seychelles. The last AIS signal shows the tanker having arrived in China after another trip from Russia.
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