An oil spill was discovered on Thursday in the Swedish economic zone east of Gotland. The tanker Flora 1 was suspected, and on Good Friday morning it was boarded by the Coast Guard together with the police, who took it to an anchorage south of Ystad.
The ship was en route from a Russian port in the Gulf of Finland.
On board were 24 crew members of various Asian nationalities. It was unclear where the ship was registered; there was information suggesting both Cameroon and Sierra Leone.
Several suspicions
Later on Friday, suspicions of lack of seaworthiness under the Maritime Act were raised due to the unclear flag status.
Regarding the preliminary investigation into environmental crimes, investigative measures on board have been completed, according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority. Two people are suspected of environmental crimes, but they have neither been arrested nor remanded in custody.
"If there is no legal basis for continued investigation, we do not detain ships. In addition, there is a flag state. We are satisfied that we have created clarity on that issue," says Daniel Stenling, deputy head of the Coast Guard's operational department, in the press release.
The Shadow Fleet
Two other ships suspected of being part of the Russian shadow fleet have already been anchored off Trelleborg. The tanker Sea Owl and the bulk carrier Caffa were boarded in early March.
The ships' respective Russian commanders are being held in custody on suspicion of using false documents, a felony.
We are no longer on site there. The situation there is pretty much frozen. They are subject to a ban on use by the Swedish Transport Agency, says Mattias Lindholm, press officer at the Coast Guard, who adds that the Coast Guard still has oversight of the two ships.
The faster the shipping companies fix the deficiencies, the faster they can leave, says Lindholm.
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