The captain of the oil tanker Boracay, detained off the Atlantic coast of France, will face trial in February 2026 on charges of the crew's refusal to cooperate, reported the Associated Press agency.
The prosecutor of the French city of Brest, Stephan Kellenberger, said that two members of the Chinese crew — the captain and the chief mate, detained on Tuesday, were released from police custody.
The chief mate was released without charges. The captain is to appear in court in Brest on February 23, 2026. If found guilty, the tanker captain faces up to one year in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.
It is known that Boracay is already under EU and UK sanctions. According to MarineTraffic, the tanker departed from the Russian port of Primorsk near St. Petersburg on September 20 and was near the shores of Denmark when unknown drones appeared near its strategic facilities. According to the French prosecutor's office, the vessel may be linked to a series of suspicious drone flights over Denmark from September 22 to 25. At that time, due to the drones, Copenhagen airport was temporarily closed, about 100 flights were canceled, and more than 30 were redirected.
On September 27, the French marines seized the vessel and arrested the captain and chief mate — allegedly for having forged documents. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the crew made "serious mistakes." The tanker is currently anchored off the city of Saint-Nazaire.
Vladimir Putin called the detention "piracy" and an attempt to provoke Moscow into aggressive actions. He stated that there could not have been drones on board the tanker and that he is unaware of how the vessel is connected to Russia.