Belgium's special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker allegedly belonging towhat has been dubbed the "shadow fleet"Russiauses to circumvent Westernsanctionsover the war inUkraine, the government said on Sunday.

Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prvot said the vessel was intercepted in the North Sea during an overnight operation.

"Today, a vessel from Russia's shadow fleet was intercepted in the North Sea," Prvot wrote on X, thanking Belgian special forces for their "exceptional professionalism and courage".

Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said the intercepted tanker was "being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized".

A Belgian official said the seized vesselis named Etheraand is on theEuropean Union's sanctions list.

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French PresidentEmmanuel Macronconfirmed on X that French naval forces assisted in the operation, calling it a "major blow" to Russia's so-called shadow fleet.

Russia has used a flotilla of ageing tankers of opaque ownership to get around restrictions on its lucrative crude exports imposed over its 2022 all-out invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union has blacklisted hundreds of vessels in a bid to sap Moscow's war chest.

"Sanctions only matter if they are enforced. Today, we enforced them," Prvot said.

Francken told Reuters that the seized vessel was suspected of sailing with a "false flag and false documents".

Maritime tracking site VesselFinder reports the Ethera is sailing under a Guinean flag.

The operation was carried out alongside Belgium's G7, Nordic and Baltic partners and in coordination with France, he added.

Russia has called the seizure of its tankers or vessels carrying its cargoes an act of piracy.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

Originally published on France24