UK charges Indian captain after Royal Marines seize Russian shadow tanker, Starmer announces fresh G7 energy sanctions

The Channel interception

In the early hours of Sunday, Royal Marine commandos and National Crime Agency officers boarded the Smyrtos, a 244‑metre tanker flying the Cameroonian flag but deemed stateless by the UK government. The vessel was carrying crude oil from Russia to India and was intercepted 25 miles south of the Isle of Wight. The operation, supported by Royal Navy ships HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury, Maritime Air Group helicopters (Chinooks, Merlin Mk4, Wildcat) and an RAF P‑8 aircraft, was over “in a matter of minutes,” Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis told parliament. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander then issued a formal order on Monday preventing the ship from leaving UK waters, and the tanker remains anchored off Weymouth, Dorset, under the watch of the two naval vessels. The vessel’s 24 crew members, all Georgian and Indian nationals, remain on board and are assisting the investigation.

We do not seek escalation, but we will always take the necessary steps to enforce UK sanctions.

Charges and legal process

On Monday, the National Crime Agency announced that the captain, 38‑year‑old Indian national Ajay Pant, had been charged under Regulation 46Z9B of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Pant is accused of directly or indirectly delivering prohibited Russian oil or oil products to a third country by ship in June 2026. He will appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. The Crown Prosecution Service cautioned that criminal proceedings are live and Pant is entitled to a fair trial.

The CPS has decided to prosecute Ajay Pant for breaching Russian sanctions following a National Crime Agency investigation and the seizure of the shadow oil tanker, MV Smyrtos, travelling through the English Channel over the last weekend. We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against Pant are active and he has the right to a fair trial.

Political timing and G7 sanctions

The interception came three days after defence secretary John Healey resigned in a public row over the Treasury’s offer of £13.5 billion to close an £18 billion gap in the defence investment plan, leaving the UK’s Nato spending target of 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 out of reach. Jarvis, appearing in the Commons for the first time as defence secretary with chancellor Rachel Reeves at his side, said the Smyrtos had been “closely tracked” for days and rejected suggestions that the Prime Minister had ordered the seizure to shift attention. At the G7 summit in Évian‑les‑Bains, France, Keir Starmer announced a fresh package of energy sanctions targeting the Russian shadow fleet and finance networks that circumvent restrictions and fund Moscow’s military. The measures include an embargo on vessels moving sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas and a two‑year deal to supply Ukraine’s nuclear plants. Jarvis said the defence investment plan would be published before the Nato summit in Ankara in early July.

This successful operation deals another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide.

Reactions

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine thanked the UK for taking “an important step against Russia’s oil fleet” and called on Europe to adopt legislation not only to detain tankers but also to confiscate the oil they carry. Moscow has not yet responded to the seizure. Jarvis noted that the UK has sanctioned over 550 Russian shadow fleet vessels, forcing nearly 200 to anchor, and said Sunday’s operation “sends a clear signal to Russia that the UK and its allies can and will act against the Russian war machine.”