French authorities have let the seized oil tanker Grinch leave territorial waters after the company owning the vessel had to pay a penalty worth "several million euros," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
"Circumventing European sanctions comes at a price. Russia will no longer be able to finance its war with impunity through a ghost fleet off our coasts," Barrot said in a post on social media.
The vessel named Grinch was seized in the Mediterranean last month.
It was then diverted to anchor off the French port city of Marseille, on suspicion of being part of the “shadow fleet” that lets Russia export oil despite sanctions. The vessel had left the Russian port of Murmansk in early January, sailing under a Comoros flag, French authorities have said.
The company owning the ship was ordered to pay a penalty for not being able to justify its flag, French authorities added in a statement.
(Reporting by Marc Leras and Inti Landauro; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
