The Swedish Coast Guard, along with police, has boarded the tanker Sea Owl 1 off Trelleborg, suspected of sailing under a false flag and being on the EU sanctions list. The vessel is en route to a Russian port, and a preliminary investigation into breaches of the Sea Act has been initiated. This marks the second such operation within a week.
On the evening of March 12, the Swedish Coast Guard, supported by the police National Task Force and a helicopter, boarded the tanker Sea Owl 1 about one nautical mile off Smygehuk near Trelleborg in Swedish territorial waters. The operation, named Strix by police, began shortly after 8:30 p.m. The vessel is 228 meters long, sails under the Comoros flag, and is suspected of using a false flag while lacking registration in the Coast Guard's ship register.
According to the Coast Guard, Sea Owl 1, built in 2007, is heading from Santos in Brazil to Primorsk in Russia without cargo. The ship is on the EU sanctions list and has transported oil products between Russia and Brazil in recent years. Prosecutors have initiated a preliminary investigation into suspected breaches of the Sea Act and the Ship Safety Act due to alleged deficiencies in seaworthiness and onboard safety.
Mattias Lindholm, press chief at the Coast Guard, states: 'We suspect it is false-flagged, which means there are deficiencies in maritime safety onboard. Ships with these kinds of deficiencies pose a threat to sea traffic in our waters, to our ports, to our fairways, and to the environment.' He confirms the vessel is on the sanctions list but declines to classify it as part of the Russian shadow fleet.
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Minister for Civil Defence, comments on X that the ship is suspected of being stateless and a 'suspected shadow fleet vessel.' He highlights the risks from aging and poorly maintained ships, which could cause significant security and environmental damage.
Daniel Stenling, deputy operational chief at the Coast Guard, adds: 'Our overall assessment is that the risk of safety deficiencies onboard is high. The threats to maritime safety and the environment are too great.'
This is the second boarding in a short time. On March 6, the vessel Caffa was boarded in the same area during operation Black Coffee, where the captain was detained and the ship was prohibited from continuing its voyage.
