Swedish authorities suspect the vessel may be part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a covert network of mostly aging oil tankers used to circumvent sanctions imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In a post on X, Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said the “older, inadequately insured tankers that circumvent sanctions pose a significant security and environmental threat” to the country.
“The government views the incident with grave concern, even though this time it is not a matter of a large-scale oil spill,” he added.
It is the third time this year that Swedish authorities have boarded a suspected false-flagged vessel. Last March a cargo vessel flying a Guinean flag was boarded in Swedish waters near the town of Trelleborg after the coast guard determined it was stateless “according to national and international law.”
The coast guard said this was the first time an oil spill had been traced to a sanctioned ship, and that the vessel would not have been intercepted otherwise. The Flora 1 will remain docked until Swedish prosecutors complete their investigation.