France Sentences Captain Of Russia's "shadow Fleet"

• 30.03.2026, 17:01

A Chinese national received a prison sentence for resisting the French military.

The Chinese captain of the Russian tanker Boracay, seized last year by the French navy off the coast of Brittany, was sentenced Monday to one year in prison by the Brest criminal court for "refusing to follow orders."

This was reported by Le Figaro.

39-year-old Chen Zhangjie, who was not present when the sentence was read out, was also fined 150,000 euros. The court issued a warrant for his arrest.

This sentence is in line with the prosecution's recommendations during the Feb. 23 hearing.

The French soldiers "encountered a particular ill-will on the part of the captain" that led them to make a "dangerous maneuver that could have led to an accident," deputy prosecutor Gabriel Rollin said.

The court accuses the captain of refusing to comply when the French navy tried to inspect his 244-meter vessel, which was not flying a visible flag, on Sept. 27, 2025, while it was sailing in international waters off Ushant Island.

While under European sanctions for belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet," the vessel, carrying a cargo of Russian oil bound for India, flew a false flag of Benin before boarding.

Two employees of a Russian private security company were on board, tasked with monitoring the crew and gathering intelligence information. Chen Zhangjie's lawyer, Henri de Richemont, pushed for his client's acquittal during the hearing, arguing that he should not be tried in a French court for these events, which took place in international waters.

If Chen Zhangjie refused to comply, he should be tried in a Chinese court, not a French one, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the lawyer argued. The oil tanker is now called "Phoenix" and sails under the Russian flag.