Europe Targets Shadow Fleet Tankers Falsely Flying Cameroon Flag, Sources Say

By John Irish and Jonathan Saul

PARIS/LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) – Europe is taking tougher action against tankers falsely using Cameroon’s flag registry to transport Russian oil, including boarding vessels at sea, prompting Cameroon to dump 39 such vessels from its ship registry, according to officials and documents.

On June 8 the EU expanded the mandate of Operation IRINI, its naval mission in the Mediterranean, and can now stop, board, detain and inspect ships suspected of belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”. Moscow condemned the move.

Russia has used such tankers, which are typically older and lack known Western