The commander of a vessel boarded off Trelleborg has been detained since Saturday evening. The detained commander is a Russian citizen, according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority. A Swedish court ordered the detention of the Russian captain of the ship Sea Owl 1, suspected of sailing under a false flag in the Baltic Sea. Prosecutors suspect him of using a false document, and the district court in Ystad ordered him held in custody. On March 14-15, the Swedish coast guard boarded the tanker Sea Owl One in Swedish waters near Trelleborg, arresting its 55-year-old Russian captain on suspicion of using forged documents. The tanker was sailing under the flag of the Comoros, but the coast guard suspects it is not in that country's shipping registry, meaning no flag state can vouch for safety.
The commander is detained on suspicion of using a false document, classified as a serious crime, the Swedish Prosecution Authority stated. He is suspected of having presented and referred to several suspected false maritime certificates during a search by the Coast Guard on the vessel, according to the authority. The commander is also suspected of crimes against the Maritime Act and the Ship Safety Act. The tanker is on the EU sanctions list and had been traveling from Brazil to Russia. The tanker was previously used to transport oil between Brazil and Russia, though it did not appear to have cargo on Thursday, multiple reports indicate. While the Sea Owl 1 captain appealed for his arrest to be kept secret from Russian authorities, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service notified the embassy. The other captain demanded contact with his homeland, and two Russian diplomats have requested to meet him. The Russian embassy confirmed 10 of 24 crew were Russian and stated it was providing consular support. Prosecutors intended to question the Sea Owl One captain further. A spokeswoman could not say how long the captain had been detained but noted it's usually 14 days.
This is the second vessel in Swedish territorial waters investigated in a week for suspected false flag use, multiple reports indicate. The cargo ship Caffa, with a majority Russian crew, is accused of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain while on Ukraine's sanctions list, and its captain has also been detained on suspicion of using a false document. A person on the Caffa has been arrested, according to the coast guard. This followed a March 6 interception of the cargo ship Caffa near Trelleborg, suspected of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, research sources report. Swedish authorities arrested the Caffa's Russian commander for allegedly presenting fake maritime certificates. The Caffa's link to stolen grain is based on Ukrainian intelligence reports.
Swedish authorities have detained two vessels suspected of being part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' used to evade Western sanctions, according to research sources. Sweden last year said it would step up insurance checks on foreign ships to tighten controls on Russia's 'shadow fleet' of aging ships used to transport oil, gas, or stolen Ukrainian grain, multiple reports indicate. This is part of broader Western efforts targeting Russia's shadow fleet, with France and Belgium also having seized such vessels.
The ships are suspected of showing false shipping certificates and remain where they were stopped, with multiple crimes suspected, multiple reports indicate. The Caffa had changed its flag from Russian to Guinean, according to Sweden's Civil Defense Minister.
Contradictions exist on the timing of the detentions: the Sea Owl 1 captain was arrested on Friday according to some accounts, but the Swedish Prosecution Authority states he was detained since Saturday evening. Similarly, the Caffa was intercepted on March 6, but its commander was arrested last Saturday, with the exact date unclear. Investigators have not disclosed what specific false documents or maritime certificates were presented by the commanders, nor what evidence beyond intelligence reports links the Caffa to transporting stolen Ukrainian grain. The exact cargo or purpose of the Sea Owl 1's current voyage remains unknown, as does the number of crew members currently detained or under investigation on both vessels.