French Navy Boards DF Peak Tanker South of Réunion

The French navy boarded the tanker DF Peak south of Réunion on October 12, President Emmanuel Macron said, and French officials said the vessel was being escorted to the island for further checks. France suspects the tanker of sailing under a false flag and transporting fuel illicitly, but the supplied reports do not establish what inspectors found about its registration or cargo. Macron said the operation took place about 450 nautical miles south of Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said the vessel was being escorted for further checks. French officials said the boarding followed doubts about the tanker’s claimed registration under the flag of Benin, and that inspectors were checking its nationality. The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence portal says the DF Peak sailed under Benin’s flag. French officials have not yet publicly detailed the results of the inspection in the information available. The suspicions that prompted the boarding, including the vessel’s flag and alleged fuel activity, therefore remain distinct from confirmed inspection findings.