According to the French media, the verdict of the court in the city of Brest was announced to 39-year-old Zheng Zhangjie on Monday, March 30. According to the publication, the captain was absent during the announcement of the verdict.
The Le Figaro article indicates that the sentence meets the requirements of the prosecutor’s office, voiced at the hearing on February 23. In particular, according to Deputy Prosecutor Gabriel Rollin, the French military “faced the captain’s particular unwillingness to cooperate,” which is why they were forced to make “a dangerous maneuver that could lead to an accident.”
The publication reports that the investigation believes that the captain refused to comply with the order of the French military, who tried to inspect the 244-meter ship without a visible flag on September 27, 2025. The incident occurred in international waters near the island of Ouessant.
The article states that the Boracay vessel was under European Union sanctions due to belonging to the Russian “shadow fleet” and was transporting a shipment of Russian oil to India. The media also reported that it raised a false Beninese flag before the arrest.
Le Figaro notes that the tanker was also suspected of possible involvement in drone flights that disrupted air traffic in Denmark in September, but this episode was not the subject of consideration by the French court.
According to the publication, there were two employees of a Russian private security company on board, who monitored the crew and “collected intelligence information.”
The media writes that Zheng Zhangjie's lawyer Henri de Richemont insisted on an acquittal, arguing that his client could not be tried by a French court for actions committed in international waters. Also, the defense, according to the publication, stated that in case of “refusal to carry out orders,” the case should be heard by a court in China in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and not a French court.
Regarding the tanker, it was renamed Phoenix, and it now flies under the Russian flag, Le Figaro reports.
Context
“Unknown drones” have been increasingly spotted in various EU countries, including Denmark. On September 26, 2025, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky noted that Russian tankers could serve as platforms for launching and controlling drones in Europe. He later added that the Baltic and other seas should be closed to Russian tankers.
On September 30, the French navy said that the country's authorities were investigating violations committed by the ship, which is associated with the “shadow fleet” used by the aggressor country Russia to circumvent sanctions and transport oil.
On October 1, French troops boarded the tanker Boracay. As Reuters wrote, the ship was previously called Kiwala, in December 2024 it was renamed Boracay, and in some shipping databases it is also listed as Pushpa. The tanker was under UK and EU sanctions. French President Emmanuel Macron said the country was investigating “serious offences”.
