UK charges Indian captain of suspected Russian shadow tanker seized in Channel

British prosecutors have charged with sanctions contravention offences the Indian captain of an interdicted alleged Russian shadow fleet vessel seized in the Channel, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Monday.

It follows British armed forces on Sunday intercepting the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos – said to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet – in a dramatic operation hailed by Kyiv and London as a blow to Moscow’s war machine.

British commandos boarded the ship off the southern English coast by fast-roping from a helicopter in the dark, according to defence ministry footage released, in the first such UK-led operation.

“Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, has been charged,” the NCA said in a Monday evening statement.

It alleged he had contravened sanctions by “directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil / oil products from Russia to a third country during the period of June 2026”.

The statement noted the Crown Prosecution Service – responsible for criminal charging decisions in England and Wales – authorised the move “following a review of the file submitted by the NCA”.

Pant will appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court in the southern English city on Tuesday, according to the agency.