Sweden boards suspected ‘shadow fleet’ vessel

AFP | Stockholm

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Sweden said yesterday its coast guard had boarded a vessel off thr southern coast suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet”, the latest of several boardings carried out by the Scandinavian country.

Moscow’s “shadow fleet” consists of vessels used to skirt Western sanctions.

They are often ageing ships in poor condition, without proper insurance and with opaque ownership, raising concerns about the risk of an accident.

“The vessel is named Jin Hui and is suspected of sailing under a false flag. There are questions regarding deficient seaworthiness and lack of insurance,” Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin wrote on X.

Jin Hui is on the sanctions lists of the EU, Britain and Ukraine, he said. The ship was boarded in Swedish territorial waters just outside the southern town of Trelleborg around 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), Bohlin said.

The Swedish coast guard said in a statement that the 182-metre (597-foot) ship was flying a Syrian flag, and “likely” had no cargo.

“Its destination is unknown,” it said.

“A preliminary investigation is underway regarding unseaworthiness, a violation of the maritime code,” it added.

On April 29, Sweden confiscated a shadow fleet cargo ship, the 96-metre Caffa, which it had seized on March 6 on suspicion of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain.

The confiscation followed a request for “legal assistance” from a foreign state, a Swedish prosecutor said, refusing to disclose the country.

On March 12, Sweden’s coast guard also boarded the 228-metre tanker Sea Owl I off Trelleborg. The Sea Owl I was flying a Comoran flag, which the coast guard believed was phoney.