The Chinese captain of the Boracay, a tanker from the Russian ghost fleet intercepted in September by the French navy off Saint-Nazaire, was sentenced to one year in prison on Monday, March 30, 2026 by the criminal court of Brest for “refusal to obey”. Chen Zhangjie, 39 years old, who was not present during the reading of the judgment, was also fined 150,000 euros. The court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Before being intercepted, the Boracay was immobilized off the Saint-Nazaire wind farm (Loire-Atlantique). French military personnel boarded the ship on October 1, 2025. Also known as Pushpa, the 244m long vessel, flying the Benin flag, was under European sanctions for its association with the Russian ghost fleet.
Blacklisted among 598 vessels
Russia uses a fleet of aging tankers with opaque ownership to circumvent restrictions on its lucrative crude oil exports following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The European Union has blacklisted 598 of these ships to weaken Moscow’s war financing capacity.
The Boracay tanker was also suspected of being involved in a series of suspicious drone flights over airports in Denmark. On its way from Primorsk, near St. Petersburg in Russia, on September 20, the tanker was supposed to reach Vadinar, in northwest India, on October 20 – it was stationed near the country at the time of these events, as reported by Le Parisien/Aujourd’hui en France. However, the French justice system was not involved in this aspect.
Other ships have since been intercepted by France. The Grinch was intercepted in the international waters of the Alboran Sea, located between Spain and North Africa, before being escorted to the port of Marseille-Fos in January 2026. Measuring 249m, it was listed under this name in the list of Russian ghost fleet vessels sanctioned by the UK and under the name Carl on the list established by the European Union and the United States.
The Deyna, flying a Mozambican flag and coming from Murmansk, Russia, was intercepted on Friday, March 20, 2026 by the French navy in the western Mediterranean south of the Balearic Islands, in international waters. It was heading towards Port-Said, Egypt.
On March 1, 2026, the French navy also took part in a joint operation with Belgian special forces to seize a tanker which was later escorted to the port of Zeebrugge to be seized.
