The French Navy recently stopped a tanker in its own territorial sea, directly charging the captain and the deputy, both of whom were Chinese. It happened at the end of September 2025, specifically around September 27, the French Navy's escort ships in the waters near Brest stared at the tanker called "Bolakay". The ship departed from the port of Primorsk in Russia, carrying 750,000 barrels of Ural crude oil, worth more than $ 40 million, was to go to the refinery in northwestern India. As a result, it entered the French territorial sea, was called by the French to stop inspection, the ship's people did not cooperate, and could not provide a valid proof of the ship, the French prosecutor saw that the ship was clearly a member of the "shadow fleet" of Russia to escape the EU sanctions

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Western countries, especially the European Union and the G7, have imposed price limits on Russian oil. Russian crude oil cannot be sold for more than US$60 per barrel. But the Russians are smart. They have built a bunch of old oil tankers. These ships often change flags, owners, and registrations. They fly flags from third countries, and most of the crew members are Asians. They just sneak the oil to Asia. The market sells at a high price. Like the "Bolakai", the European Union and the United Kingdom have been sanctioning it since October 2024. It flies the flag of Benin, but its actual control is closely related to Russia. To put it bluntly, France's action this time is to plug this leak and break Russia's oil chain. The French Ministry of Defense confirmed that the ship was towed to the Saint-Nazaire Naval Base. After checking the source of crude oil, it was all Ural oil and did not escape.

This is quite unusual in international shipping, the French were not simply fined, but charged with criminal charges against the captain and the captain, accused of refusing to comply with the inspection and the ship's documents are incomplete. The captain is Chinese, the captain is also, the two were imprisoned in the police station, first held for a few days, until October 2, the French prosecutor officially said to prosecute the captain, the court judged on February 23, 2026, in the court of Brest. Possible fines or brief imprisonment, the captain seemed to be released, but the captain has to wait. French prosecutors said that it was not only law enforcement, but alsoining national security, preventing these ships from helping Russia bypass the sanctions.

The incident broke out less than a day after the French Army Chief of Staff Pierre Schiller jumped out. Shearer, born in 1967, graduated from St. Sears Military School in the early years, from the Navy Corps, performed peacekeeping missions in Africa and the Middle East, and in July 2021 as Chief of Staff of the Army. In the years he advocated the "Scorpion" program, replaced the army with new equipment, digitized tanks and adapted to modern warfare. On September 25, he met at the headquarters of the Army in Paris and publicly said that the army had to enter a high-intensity combat preparedness, and must move as soon as possible tonight. It is clear that he was pushing Russia, defending the North East Wing allies, suggesting that he might be directly

Why did Sil say that? We must start from France's policy towards Russia. In the past few months, France has become increasingly tough on Russia, from sending military aid to Ukraine, to pushing the EU to add sanctions lists, and also openly talking about sending military advisers to Ukraine. France plays an important role in European defense, but its own armaments have shortcomings. The army is small in number and its equipment is aging. Scheer is encouraging the country and also stating to its NATO allies, especially the United States, that France wants to revitalize its military strength. 2025-2026 In the annual budget, he focused on rapid deployment. A division of 19,000 people can go to the battlefield within 30 days and achieve it by 2027. This warning is not empty talk. Since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the French security circle has repeatedly talked about "the return of high-intensity war" and Europe must guard against Russia's eastward expansion. Scheer wrote an article in the magazine "Contemporary Values", emphasizing that the military must be ready at any time, psychological mobilization and practical training, and grasp it with both hands.

The reactions of all parties are that China has kept a very low profile and has not responded publicly. It has expressed its concerns to France through diplomatic channels. It is estimated that it does not want to make a big fuss about the matter. China-France economic and trade are in a delicate state. After all, when a China crew member is arrested, consular protection has to keep up, but it will not benefit anyone if it is amplified into a diplomatic incident. China seafarers are many in global shipping. Most of the crew on this ship are Asians. China does not want to be involved in the tug of war between Europe and Russia. India is even more silent. As the largest buyer of Russian oil, its oil imports from Russia have doubled in the past two years. The destination of "Bolakai" is the northwest Indian refinery, but the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this was a French judicial matter and would not comment. India is smart and does not want to be drawn into the sanctions war by the West. Energy security comes first and continues to buy Russian oil to lower costs.

Russia became angry. At the Sochi meeting, Putin directly called France a pirate, saying that the ship was flying the Benin flag and had nothing to do with Russia, and threatened a "major response." Russia's shadow fleet has hundreds of ships and continues to travel from the Baltic Sea to the Indian Ocean. This time France detained the ships, but it could not stop the overall situation. The European Union supports France. The committee said it was a good framework for implementing sanctions and urged member states to patrol more sea areas. Britain has already sanctioned this ship, and the United States has acquiesced. Global oil prices have risen slightly, and Indian refineries have to adjust their import sources to avoid breaking the chain.

This is not just as simple as catching a ship, it is part of the energy war. Russia relies on oil to sell money to support the war. The West wants to pinch the chain, but Asian countries are hungry for energy. China and India have to be realistic. France's action tested the red line, telling Moscow that sanctions were not a decoration, and also warning China and India that they might be targeted if they touched Russian oil. Geographically, Europe's defense has been upgraded, and NATO's eastern flank is under great pressure. Schill's warning sounds scary, but France's military strength is limited, with a number of just over 100,000 people, and it relies on NATO to hold a group.

For Chinese seafarers, this incident reminds the shipping industry of high risks. There are millions of Chinese seafarers around the world, and the wages for doing shadow ships are high, but there are many legal pitfalls. The French prosecution is not against Chinese nationality, but the captain has to carry it. It is estimated that the consulate will help hire a lawyer. India's oil buying strategy is stable and continues to diversify, taking it from Russia and the Middle East, but Western pressure will increase. In the next step, the EU may coordinate NATO to intercept more and attack gray networks, but it is difficult to implement, the sea is too big and there are too many ships.