Swedish Court Orders Detention of Captain of Alleged Russian 'Shadow Tanker' Evading Sanctions

Stockholm. A Swedish court has ordered the detention of the captain of a Russian 'shadow vessel' allegedly used to circumvent European sanctions. The Russian national, presented before the court in Ystad, Sweden, was arrested on suspicion of using forged documents.

His name has not been made public. He was arrested by the Swedish Prosecution Authority on Friday.

When the Swedish Coast Guard inspected the oil tanker named Sea Owl One, they found the vessel was flying the flag of Comoros, but there is suspicion that the flag might be fake. The 228-meter-long tanker is also reported to be on the list of vessels sanctioned by the European Union.

The vessel was taken into custody in Swedish waters while traveling from Santos, Brazil, to Primorsk. According to the Coast Guard, this ship has transported oil between Russia and Brazil in recent years.

According to the prosecution office, the 55-year-old captain has been detained under the provision that he will typically be held for 14 days and further interrogation will be conducted.

The ship was stopped by the Coast Guard near Trelleborg in southern Sweden on Thursday evening. During the inspection, it was found that the ship was not on the official ship registry of Comoros, leading to suspicion of a violation of international law.

The suspicion of officials was further strengthened when the documents presented by the captain also appeared to be fake. According to the Russian Embassy in Sweden, 10 of the 24 sailors on board are Russian nationals, while the rest are from Indonesia. The embassy stated that it is closely monitoring the developments.

Meanwhile, this is the second incident within a week where Sweden has taken a vessel into custody on suspicion of it being a Russian 'shadow ship'. Previously, on March 6, a ship flying the flag of Guinea, named Kaffa, was also detained. That vessel was suspected of carrying stolen grain from Ukraine.