On October 1, 2025, French military forces boarded the oil tanker Boracay off the coast of western France, in a dramatic operation that has sent ripples through European security circles and reignited debate over Russia’s so-called "shadow fleet." The Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by both the European Union and the United Kingdom, is suspected of playing a role in recent drone incidents that forced the closure of several Danish airports and military bases in late September, according to multiple reports including BBC, AFP, and Sky News.
The French navy’s intervention came after the Boracay had spent several days anchored near Saint-Nazaire, having altered course after being shadowed by a French warship as it rounded Brittany’s northwestern tip. The vessel, which left the Russian port of Primorsk on September 20, 2025, had sailed through the Baltic Sea and past Denmark between September 22 and 25, coinciding with a spate of mysterious drone sightings over Danish territory. These drone flights caused significant disruption, including the temporary shutdown of Aalborg airport—one of Denmark’s largest—as well as incidents at Esbjerg, Sonderborg, and the Skrydstrup air base, as reported by The Maritime Executive and corroborated by images of police and military presence at Danish airports.
French authorities detained two senior crew members of the Boracay, who identified themselves as the ship’s captain and first mate. The arrests followed the ship’s refusal to comply with an order to stop, and its failure to justify the nationality of its flag—a point of legal contention given the vessel’s checkered history. Earlier in 2025, Estonian authorities had detained the Boracay for sailing without a valid country flag, an infraction not uncommon among vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, which often operate under opaque ownership structures and questionable insurance to circumvent Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at an EU leaders’ summit in Copenhagen on October 1, confirmed the operation and emphasized the gravity of the situation. “The crew committed serious offences,” Macron stated, though he declined to explicitly link the Boracay to the Danish drone flights. “I would remain very careful, as it is not for me to establish a direct connection,” he told reporters, according to BBC and AFP. Still, Macron acknowledged the broader pattern of hybrid threats facing Europe, adding, “The drones that flew over Denmark show we need pre-alert systems, and we need to cooperate.”
The investigation, now in the hands of the public prosecutor’s office in Brest, is pursuing charges on two counts: refusing an order to stop and failing to justify the nationality of the ship’s flag. The Boracay’s checkered past and multiple identities—having previously sailed under the names Kiwala and Pushpa, though always with the same IMO identification number—have made it a poster child for the shadowy practices that have come to define Russia’s efforts to evade Western energy sanctions. According to President Macron, Russia’s shadow fleet may number between 600 and 1,000 ships, many of which continue to move oil and petroleum products through global markets despite restrictions.
Both the European Union and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on the Boracay, citing its involvement in the transport of Russian crude oil and petroleum products “while practising irregular and high-risk shipping practices,” as the EU put it. The UK described the tanker as “involved in activity whose object or effect is to destabilise Ukraine… or to obtain a benefit from or support the government of Russia.” The vessel was blacklisted by the EU in October 2024 and by the UK in February 2025.
The Kremlin, for its part, has denied any knowledge of the Boracay. Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on October 1, “We have no information about this vessel,” while also accusing foreign countries of engaging in “provocative actions” that sometimes require a Russian response. Russia has similarly rejected allegations of responsibility for the drone incursions over Denmark and elsewhere, as well as for recent fighter jet incursions into Estonian airspace. “Russia tries to test us. But Russia also tries to sow division and anxiety in our societies. We will not let this happen,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the Copenhagen summit, as quoted by BBC.
The drone incidents in Denmark are part of a larger pattern of hybrid attacks that have put European defense on high alert. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen did not mince words, telling reporters, “From a European perspective there is only one country willing to threaten us and that is Russia, and therefore we need a very strong answer back.” She also described the current security environment as “the most difficult and dangerous situation since the Second World War.”
European leaders meeting in Copenhagen on October 1 discussed not only the Boracay incident but also broader measures to strengthen the continent’s defenses. Among the proposals gaining traction is the creation of a “drone wall”—a network of sensors and weapons designed to detect, track, and neutralize intruding unmanned aircraft. Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo voiced his support for such a system, stating, “Russia will continue and we have to be ready, we have to strengthen our preparedness.”
The summit also saw debate over the use of Russian assets frozen in Europe to fund a major loan to Ukraine, a proposal that has divided leaders. While some, like von der Leyen, support the move, the Kremlin has condemned it as “pure theft.” The meeting underscored the urgency European leaders feel in the face of what they see as an escalating hybrid war waged by Russia—a campaign that blends conventional military threats with cyberattacks, disinformation, and now, apparently, the use of shadowy commercial vessels for covert operations.
Meanwhile, the Boracay remains anchored off Saint-Nazaire, its future uncertain as the investigation unfolds. The ship’s scheduled arrival in Vadinar, India, on October 20 now appears unlikely, and with two senior crew members in French custody, the tanker has become a symbol of the murky, high-stakes contest playing out across Europe’s airspace and maritime routes. As the continent braces for further provocations, the boarding of the Boracay stands as a vivid reminder of the complex and evolving nature of modern geopolitical conflict.
