MASSIVE TANKER

France Docks ‘Russian Ghost Ship’ After Mystery Drone Interference

Denmark was disrupted by four nights of unnerving activity.

France is investigating the captain of an oil tanker following a series of drone incursions in Denmark. French Navy commandos boarded the 800-foot-long Boracay, following four nights of incidents around its fellow NATO nation’s airports and military sites last week. Previously called the Pushpa, the ship now flies under the flag of Benin and was near the coast of Denmark during the time of the incidents. It is part of the Russian ghost fleet, according to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The fleet deploys civilian ships—often old—to circumnavigate sanctions placed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. “Thank you to our navy commandos and the crews who intervened... to board a tanker from the Russian ghost fleet, currently anchored off Saint-Nazaire, as part of an investigation,” Lecornu wrote on X. The captain and another crew member were detained for questioning and then released, although the FT reports the captain is now being investigated. He is expected in court in Brest, France, in February. France said it is questioning the captain for failing to obey orders after commandos requested to see registration. France and Denmark have not said the ship was directly connected to the drone incursions. French President Emanuel Macron said only that it was a “good thing” it had been detained because there “were some very serious wrongdoings committed by this crew.”