France diverts detained "shadow fleet" tanker for investigation

The office of the prosecutor of Marseille, which handles matters related to maritime law and is investigating the case, said on Friday that the ship had been diverted, but did not specify where to.

The EU has imposed 19 packages of sanctions against Russia, but Moscow has adapted to most measures and continues to sell millions of barrels of oil to countries such as India and China, typically at discounted prices.

Much of the oil is carried by what is known as a shadow fleet of vessels operating outside of the Western maritime industry.

In October, France detained another sanctioned tanker, the Boracay, off its west coast and released it after a few days.

(Reporting by Marc Leras and Alessandro Parodi, editing by Inti Landauro and Ros Russell)