Indian captain of suspected Russian shadow tanker in French custody

Martigues: France on Sunday took into custody the Indian captain of an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet" for the vessel failing to fly a flag, prosecutors said.

The 58-year-old captain was in charge of the tanker, the Grinch, which was seized by the French navy in the Mediterranean on Thursday and is now moored, under guard, at a southern French port near Marseille.

The Marseille prosecutors' office, in charge of investigating the case, said the rest of the ship's crewmembers -- all also Indians -- were being "kept on board".