Defence secretary questioned by MPs over timing of Healey quitting and tanker seizure

Dan Jarvis has told MPs that the Russian oil tanker seized on Sunday had been monitored for several days as he deflected suggestions that its seizure had been ordered by a prime minister under pressure after the resignation of John Healey last week.

The new defence secretary, flanked supportively in the Commons by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the Smyrtos had been “closely tracked” as he faced a question from the Conservatives as to why the capture took place over the weekend.

Surveillance of the tanker – which was carrying crude oil from Russia to India – had gone on “in the days” leading up to its seizure by Royal Marines, Jarvis said, “on the grounds it was suspected of using a false flag” of Cameroon.

A border security vessel patrols the detained Smyrtos vessel outside Portland harbour on Monday. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

It was captured 25 miles south of the Isle of Wight in the small hours of Sunday, when marine commandos roped down on to the deck of the 244-metre vessel. The ship was captured in “a matter of minutes”, the defence minister said.

The captain of the ship, Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, was charged with breaching sanctions offences and will appear at Southampton magistrates court on Tuesday, the National Crime Agency said, while 24 crew members from Georgia and India remain on board.

Questions had been asked about the timing of the seizure, which took place three days after Healey resigned on Thursday in an acrimonious row about the money No 10 and the Treasury were willing to commit to defence by 2030.

“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country,” Healey said in his dramatic resignation letter, which caught Westminster by surprise.

The veteran had quit after the Treasury had only offered £13.5bn to plug an £18bn gap in the defence investment plan (Dip) – while Starmer had only been willing to lift defence spending to 2.68% of GDP by 2030, below a Nato target of 3.5% by 2035.