Sanctioned Russian tanker enters Channel after loading oil in Primorsk

A sanctioned Russian tanker slipped into the English Channel on Wednesday evening after loading oil at Primorsk, testing how far Britain and its allies are willing to go after the Smyrtos boarding. The Russian-flagged ship, Forwarder, was broadcasting Dongying in China as its final destination as it sailed south.

Tracking data showed Forwarder left Primorsk on 12 June, part of traffic from the Baltic Sea port that is a key export hub for Russia’s energy industry. The vessel was sanctioned by the UK, the US and the European Union in 2025 and has changed its name twice since the British government accused it of smuggling oil from Russia.

The crossing comes just days after UK forces carried out the first UK-led boarding of a suspected Russian shadow-fleet tanker in the Channel. Smyrtos was held in a six-hour operation on 14 June, with officials saying it was carrying about 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil worth an estimated £45 million. The interception was an unusually direct move against the network of ageing tankers that has helped move sanctioned Russian oil since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

British officials have said the shadow fleet now includes more than 700 ageing vessels that carry about 75% of Russia’s sanctioned oil, and the UK says it has sanctioned more than 500 vessels tied to that trade. In March, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said British armed forces would be able to board sanctioned vessels passing through UK waters, sharpening the legal and operational tools available to disrupt the trade.

Forwarder’s passage now shows both the reach and the limits of that strategy. A Royal Navy warship, HMS Tyne, was reported to be operating near the tanker, while Royal Navy vessels HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey were carrying out a routine shadowing operation on the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich in the same waterway. A NATO official had previously said Admiral Grigorovich had been assigned to escort sanctioned oil tankers, though it was not clear whether it was accompanying Forwarder.

That frigate was also involved in a separate incident on Tuesday, when it fired warning shots at a British yacht that had moved toward it in the Channel. Analysts said a boarding of a Russian-flagged tanker could mark a further escalation, which is why UK and French forces were not expected to seize Forwarder as it transited one of the world’s busiest commercial routes. Even so, the sequence of course changes after Smyrtos suggests that surveillance and boarding powers are beginning to alter behavior, not just monitor it.