Belgian defense forces intercepted and boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the North Sea overnight, with French Navy NH90 helicopters providing airborne support for the operation inside Belgium’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to official statements released on March 1, 2026.
Belgium’s defense ministry said Belgian troops went aboard the tanker “with the support of two French NH-90 helicopters” in the Belgian EEZ, describing the ship as “under sanctions.”
Airborne support “to enforce maritime international law”
France’s Navy said French assets intervened at sea “in support of Belgium Defence to ensure respect for international maritime law,” adding that French forces provided “air support.”
Footage released by the French Navy shows an NH90 helicopter delivering soldiers directly onto the ship’s deck: the helicopter approaches at low altitude, stabilizes over the deck, and drops a boarding element while maintaining a position to support the team and monitor the ship’s upper works. In contested or ambiguous encounters, airborne overwatch can also provide immediate situational awareness, communications relay, and a rapid extraction option.
📍Mer du Nord | Intervention en mer de moyens de la @MarineNationale, en appui de @BelgiumDefence 🇧🇪 pour faire respecter le droit international maritime
🚁 Les armées 🇫🇷 ont fourni un appui aérien à leur partenaire 🇧🇪, attestant d’une excellente coordination entre nos armées.… https://t.co/fqYMxBbTv2 pic.twitter.com/Ut7l4Bu1ZZ
— Armée française – Opérations militaires (@EtatMajorFR) March 1, 2026
European coordination in the North Sea
The French statement framed the mission as a European engagement in support of maritime security and the enforcement of international law, explicitly referencing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said the operation, dubbed Blue Intruder, resulted in the tanker being brought to Zeebrugge “for seizure,” thanking France for its support and praising the troops involved for “courage, precision, and determination.”
RTBF reported that the tanker, Ethera, which was boarded by Belgian forces, has been on the EU list of vessels whose activity must be restricted since October 2025, because it is considered part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” or a contributor to Russian energy revenues that fund the war against Ukraine. RTBF said EU documents describe Ethera as transporting Russian-origin crude oil, petroleum products, or mineral products while engaging in “irregular and high-risk” maritime practices, restrictions that include a ban on access to EU ports.
Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” sometimes described as a “ghost fleet,” is generally understood as a web of aging tankers and intermediaries used to keep Russian oil moving despite Western sanctions introduced after the 2022 full-scale invasion.
The vessels are frequently associated with opaque ownership structures, repeated reflagging through open registries, and unclear insurance arrangements, and are often linked by governments and analysts to tactics such as AIS manipulation or shutdowns and ship-to-ship transfers intended to obscure cargo origin and trading routes. Some of these vessels were also linked to suspected sabotage of underwater infrastructure, including internet cables.
