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France<\/a> is to double penalties for ships that fail to fly a flag or refuse to comply, a draft law showed Wednesday, in what an informed source said was a bid to strengthen measures against Russia<\/a>‘s “shadow\u00a0fleet”.<\/a><\/p>\n The move comes as France has, since September, boarded three ships<\/a> suspected of being part of the fleet transporting Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vessels in the “shadow\u00a0fleet” frequently change the flags they fly, a practice known as flag-hopping, and sometimes sail under invalid flags in an attempt to escape detection and tracking.<\/p>\n France will now punish those who fail to fly the correct flag or refuse to comply with orders to stop the ship with up to two years in prison and a fine of \u20ac300,000 ($351,000), according to a draft update to France’s military planning law seen by AFP on Wednesday.<\/p>\n That would double the current penalties in place, with sanctions applying to any person \u2013 such as the owner, operator, or legally responsible individual \u2013\u00a0who exercises “power of control or management” over the vessel’s operation, it said.<\/p>\n