PARIS, April 16. /TASS/. The French authorities have released the Deyna tanker, which allegedly belongs to Russia’s "shadow fleet," after collecting a fine from the owner. The vessel has already left French territorial waters, the press service of the Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture reported.

TASS has compiled the main information on the situation.

Release of the vessel

- Following a meeting, the prefect of France’s Bouches-du-Rhone department lifted the detention of the Deyna tanker.

- The vessel has already left French territorial waters, the press service of the Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture reported.

- Throughout its journey until it exits waters under French sovereignty and jurisdiction, the tanker will remain under the supervision of the competent French maritime authorities, led by the Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture, the agency said in a statement posted on its website.

Court

- On April 15, the Marseille court ruled against the ship’s owner, ordering him to pay a fine for "failure to provide proof of ownership of the vessel (lack of a flag)."

- The money "has already been transferred to the account" of the Agency for the management and recovery of seized and confiscated assets, the document specified.

- According to French authorities, the company "has committed to acquiring a new flag as soon as possible."

Detention

- On March 20, French naval forces conducted an operation in the western Mediterranean Sea targeting the Deyna oil tanker, which was flying the Mozambican flag and sailing from Murmansk, the prefecture said in a statement.

- According to it, the operation was conducted jointly "with France's allies, including the United Kingdom, which participated in tracking the vessel," based on "Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and was aimed at verifying the nationality of the vessel, which was suspected of flying a false flag."

- French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the tanker in question belongs to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

- There are no Russian citizens among the Deyna tanker's crew, the Russian embassy told TASS.

- Moscow considers the situation regarding the West’s illegal actions in the world’s oceans to be absolutely unacceptable, as they "stop and escort vessels they deem undesirable to their ports with impunity, accusing them of violating some ‘international’ sanctions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

- Russia calls for upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and not yielding to the West’s neocolonial dictates, the statement emphasized.