EU Navies Intercept Russian Shadow Fleet Tankers Falsely Using Cameroon’s Flag

European Union is taking strict action against oil tankers falsely using the flag of Cameroon to ship Russian oil.

On June 8, 2026, the EU announced Operation IRINI, a naval mission in the Mediterranean that would enable EU navies to intercept, board, inspect, and detain vessels suspected of being part of the Russian shadow fleet.

The step has led Cameroon to remove 39 vessels from its registry.

Russia has used older tankers lacking proper documentation and insurance to evade Western sanctions by registering them under the flags of several nations to hide their true ownership, identity, cargo and movements.

IRINI boarded and inspected at least three tankers in the past few weeks. These include the
Nelsa, the Oneiroi and the Sandhya.

French, British, Swedish, and Belgian navies have intercepted 9 ships since the beginning of 2026, and five of them were sailing under a false Cameroonian flag.

Cameroon said that its registry has been misused by shadow fleet tankers carrying Russian oil, and a recent investigation revealed that many ships were sailing under the country’s flag.

Behind it were two fraudulent websites posing as authentic government portals, which were assigning the flags secretly to the shadow fleet vessels.

After the probe, 39 such vessels were removed from the Cameroon ship registry.

UAE banned Cameroon-flagged vessels from arriving at its ports in 2024 unless the ships had top-tier safety certification and proper documentation.

The government of Cameroon said that the country should not be held accountable for the vessel’s activities or cargo movements after it has been removed from its registry.

The latest tanker sailing under the flag of Cameroon was the Deliver, which was detained by France on June 25, 2026.

It was stopped near Sicily while sailing under the flag of Cameroon, though it had been removed from the ship registry.

EU is planning to implement a new sanctions package in mid-July, which would see more ships from the shadow fleet listed as sanctioned and also expand the criteria to vessels that refuel sanctioned ships or offload their cargo.