“Grinch”, a tanker suspected of belonging to the Russian “ghost fleet”, which was confiscated on Thursday, is anchored in the Fos Bay, near the oil terminal of the Marseille-Fos port, under the guard of the French Navy and at the disposal of the judiciary, according to Le Monde.
The ship was escorted to Marseille to be “held at the disposal of the Marseille prosecutor, as part of the preliminary investigation into the accusation of not displaying the flag”, the Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture announced on Saturday.
The Marseille prosecutor’s office, together with the maritime gendarmerie investigators, is to carry out a series of checks. The captain and crew of the ship are to be interrogated.
To guarantee the “safety and security” of the ongoing investigation, the maritime authorities have established “nautical and aerial exclusion zones”, enforced by a French Navy ship and two patrol boats of the gendarmerie.
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