The ship is a tanker named Jin Hui and was boarded at 2 p.m. south of Trelleborg in Swedish territorial waters, the Coast Guard says.
The suspected crime is lack of seaworthiness. The Coast Guard also suspects that the Syrian-flagged ship is sailing under a false flag.
"Ships that may be suspected of lacking seaworthiness and that we assess do not comply with the applicable rules that we have agreed upon, continue to sail in Swedish waters. This is not acceptable. We have intervened before, now we are intervening again," says Daniel Stenling, Deputy Chief of Operations at the Coast Guard, in a press release.
The Shadow Fleet
According to Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M), Minister of Civil Defense, the ship is suspected of being part of the Russian so-called shadow fleet and appears on the EU, UK and Ukraine sanctions lists.
The ship is believed to be empty and is now anchored off Trelleborg. According to the website Marine Traffic, the tanker was en route from Turkey to Latvia, but the Coast Guard describes the destination as "unclear."
Fifth boarding
Right now, the Coast Guard is on board with personnel to investigate possible crimes, and there we are carrying out the investigative measures that have been decided by prosecutors, the Coast Guard's press officer Mattias Lindholm told TT.
This is the fifth such boarding in recent months. Lindholm says there is a constant exchange of information with other countries and that ships that can be described as part of the shadow fleet have “increased in scope” in recent years.
The fact that we have boarded so many ships also has to do with the fact that we have a significantly better knowledge base than before. We have better opportunities to handle information and have received more legislation and support for it. But intervening against international shipping is not something you do lightly, says Lindholm.
In recent months, several ships with various connections to Russia have been boarded by the Coast Guard. Several of them are suspected of being part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which is usually defined as a collection of older tankers that evade sanctions.
+ March 6. Bulk carrier Caffa is boarded. Suspected of being falsely flagged and lacking seaworthiness. The Russian captain is detained, suspected of using a false document, but is later released. Sanctioned by Ukraine.
+ March 12. The tanker Sea Owl 1 is boarded. Similar suspicions as against Caffa. The Russian commander is arrested. Sanctioned by the EU.
+ April 3. The tanker Flora 1 is boarded. Suspected of environmental crimes in the form of oil spills and question marks over its flagging, but the investigations are later closed and the ship is released. Sanctioned by the EU.
+ April 12. Bulk carrier Hui Yuan is boarded. Suspected environmental crime. Master admits crime. Panamanian-flagged ship allowed to continue.
+ May 3. The tanker Jin Hui is boarded. Suspected of lacking seaworthiness. Identified as part of the shadow fleet. Sanctioned by the EU, the UK and Ukraine.
