A Swedish court has ordered the detention of a 55-year-old Russian oil tanker captain after it was found he falsely used the Comoros flag to attempt to navigate through territorial waters, believed to be part of Russia's shadow fleet used to evade sanctions.
Foreign media reported today (16 Mar) that a court in Ystad, Sweden, ordered the detention of a 55-year-old Russian oil tanker captain who was arrested last Friday (13 Mar) after Swedish prosecutors suspected he used forged documents for navigation.
The operation began when Swedish Coast Guard officers boarded the 228-meter-long oil tanker Sea Owl I, anchored south of Trelleborg, on the night of Thursday (12 Mar). They found the ship was flying the flag of Comoros (an African island nation), but it was not registered in Comoros’ ship registry. Falsifying and falsely flying a flag for navigation is a serious violation of international law.
Authorities found that the documents the 55-year-old captain presented were suspicious and likely all forged. Additionally, the Sea Owl I is listed on the European Union (EU) sanctions list, as it may be part of Russia's "shadow fleet" used to smuggle goods and evade oil export sanctions imposed following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
When boarded, the vessel was heading to the port of Primorsk in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Russia, having departed from Santos, Brazil. The ship has a history of transporting oil between these two countries consistently over recent years.
A spokesperson for the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to media that the captain will be detained for about 14 days for further investigation. Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Sweden disclosed that among the 24 crew members, 10 (including the captain) are Russian, and 14 are Indonesian. The embassy is closely monitoring the situation.
This marks the second time within a week that Swedish authorities have inspected and seized ships suspected to be linked to Russia's "shadow fleet." On 6 March, Swedish Coast Guard detained the cargo ship Caffa, flying the Guinean flag, which was carrying grain stolen from Ukraine. It was traveling from Casablanca, Morocco, to St. Petersburg.
Besides Sweden, France has also seized several similar ships, such as the Grinch, which attempted to pass through the Mediterranean in January, and the Boracay, which tried to cross the Atlantic Ocean last October.
Western countries have strictly enforced sanctions on Russian oil exports since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In addition to smuggling oil, Russia’s shadow fleet has been accused of "spoofing" location coordinates and involvement in sabotage of undersea cables and deploying spy drones.
. BBC
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