Sweden intercepted a tanker from Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden has intercepted an oil tanker that is believed to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet.”

Reuters writes about this.

The vessel was intercepted on March 6 in the Baltic Sea near the town of Trelleborg .

The tanker in question was the Caffa , which was sailing under the Guinean flag. However, the Swedish Coast Guard stated that it considers the vessel stateless under national and international law. Police suspect the tanker was using a false flag.

Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin noted that the ship is subject to Ukrainian sanctions.

According to him, the tanker’s ownership structure is unknown, and there are also suspicions that the vessel is uninsured. It likely previously sailed under the Russian flag, but subsequently changed its flag to Guinean.

The Swedish Coast Guard has currently launched a preliminary investigation into suspected violations of maritime law. Law enforcement officers are inspecting the vessel’s technical condition, conducting searches, and questioning crew members.

It was previously reported that Russian oil producers are facing a shortage of oil storage capacity due to increased US and EU sanctions pressure and a decline in exports.

As a reminder, the European Union plans to further tighten sanctions against Russia. The bloc is seeking to impose restrictions on Russian oil transactions at two ports in Georgia and Indonesia.