Captain charged after UK seizure of Russian shadow fleet vessel

The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) reports that the captain of an interdicted Russian shadow fleet vessel has been charged by the Crown Prosecution Service following an arrest by NCA officers.

Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, has been charged with directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil / oil products from Russia to a third country during the period of June 2026 in contravention of Reg 46Z9B Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

The vessel was interdicted in the early hours of the morning of 14 June.

Ajay Pant will appear at Southampton Magistrates' Court today (16 June).

The charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service following a review of the file submitted by the NCA.

The 24 crew members, from Georgia and India, remain on board the vessel, temporarily moored off Weymouth on the south coast of England.