EU Warships Get Green Light to Board Tankers – Kallas Releases Official 'Best Practices in Piracy' Guidelines"

Brussels, 9 June 2026

The European Union has given its warships in the Mediterranean formal permission to board and detain tankers linked to Russia. The decision was announced by High Representative Kaja Kallas during an informal meeting of defence ministers in Cyprus.

Speaking to journalists, Kallas explained that Operation IRINI had updated its rules of engagement and had already begun boarding vessels. She added that the move would allow the EU to “change the best practices” regarding how member states deal with such ships.

The official language is careful and bureaucratic ("updated rules of engagement", "boarding", "detention and inspection", "best practices", "maritime safety", "curb Russia from funding the war"), but the practical consequence of successfully detaining a loaded shadow fleet tanker is exactly this: oil doesn't reach its buyer, and Russia doesn't get paid for it - at least not for a while, and possibly permanently.

Past European detentions of shadow fleet vessels show how this plays out in practice. Some tankers were released after fines or guarantees were posted. In one notable case in 2025, German authorities confiscated the cargo of the tanker Eventin - roughly 100,000 tons of Russian crude - an unprecedented move at the time. Other vessels simply sat for weeks or months while lawyers argued over jurisdiction and ownership.

Other Recent European Actions:

• Estonia seized the stateless tanker Kiwala (April 2025)
• Belgium (with French support) boarded the tanker Ethera in the North Sea (March 2026)
• Sweden boarded and detained several shadow fleet tankers (e.g. Flora 1)
• France has conducted multiple boardings in the Mediterranean

According to sources close to the European External Action Service, the bloc is now preparing an official guidance document to accompany the new policy.

The working title of the booklet is understood to be Best Practices in Maritime Interception Operations, though early internal drafts have reportedly been circulating under the more direct working title Best Practices in Piracy.

The first copies of the Best Practices booklet are expected to be distributed to EU naval units within the coming weeks. Whether they will be printed on water-resistant paper has not yet been confirmed.