France releases Russian shadow fleet tanker after fine paid

French prosecutors have announced the release of the Grinch, a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker which was detained in January.

As reported by French newspaper Le Figaro, the Grinch, which had been held since late January in the Gulf of Fos near the oil terminal at the Port of Marseille-Fos, was released after a fine was paid, the Marseille prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

In a joint statement, the prosecutor's office, the Bouches-du-Rhône Prefecture and the Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture said: "The company that owns the vessel was convicted by the Marseille court under a guilty plea procedure (CRPC) and fined." The amount of the fine was not disclosed.

On 22 January, France, with the support of the United Kingdom, detained the Grinch off the coast of Spain after inspecting documents that confirmed suspicions the vessel was sailing under a false flag. The tanker is part of Russia's shadow fleet and is subject to EU and UK sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had told him about plans to release the tanker due to legal requirements.

At the end of January, a group of 14 European countries issued a public warning to Russian shadow fleet tankers sailing in the Baltic and North Seas.