[Goose]

It is interesting that the shadow fleet tanker that was boarded by France, and the captain arrested, may be tied to the drones in Denmark.  No strong evidence mentioned yet, but a ship offshore (it was 50 miles from Copenhagen) is a plausible source.

That's right up there with destroying undersea cables.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter if the tanker was actually involved.The tanker is impounded until the charges are litigated. The gears of French justice can grind very slowly.
 
One problem with stopping shadow fleet vessels in European waters is that Russia can start escorting them. PITA for Russia, but I doubt that France would risk such a confrontation. Much better to grab them in the IO. Of course that would be difficult for France to pull off for the same reasons Russia couldn't escort the shadow fleet that far.

[Goose]

It is interesting that the shadow fleet tanker that was boarded by France, and the captain arrested, may be tied to the drones in Denmark.  No strong evidence mentioned yet, but a ship offshore (it was 50 miles from Copenhagen) is a plausible source.

That's right up there with destroying undersea cables.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter if the tanker was actually involved.The tanker is impounded until the charges are litigated. The gears of French justice can grind very slowly.
 
One problem with stopping shadow fleet vessels in European waters is that Russia can start escorting them. PITA for Russia, but I doubt that France would risk such a confrontation. Much better to grab them in the IO. Of course that would be difficult for France to pull off for the same reasons Russia couldn't escort the shadow fleet that far.