A Swedish seaman's priest has delivered food to ten Russian sailors stranded on the boarded ship Caffa off Trelleborg. The vessel, suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet, was boarded by the Coast Guard and police a week ago, and the captain has been arrested. The crew lacked sufficient provisions, and aid came with support from authorities.
A week ago, the Coast Guard and the police's national task force boarded the cargo ship Caffa off Trelleborg. The vessel is falsely flagged and listed on Ukraine's sanctions list, believed to belong to the Russian shadow fleet. The captain was arrested on suspicion of gross use of false documents, breach of maritime law, and violation of ship safety regulations. The ten Russian sailors remaining on board had only a rotten cabbage head and two kilograms of potatoes in the pantry, according to Fredrik Axvik–Larsson, local representative at the Swedish Maritime Administration's seaman service in Malmö.
The Swedish Transport Agency has imposed a usage ban on Caffa due to serious deficiencies in sea safety, meaning the ship cannot leave the area until the issues are addressed. Responsibility for the crew primarily lies with the shipping company, but with the false flag, it falls to the coastal state Sweden in the third instance.
On Wednesday, Axvik–Larsson, along with colleague Mike Josefsson and seaman's priest J.P. Heath, went out to the ship with grocery bags filled with meat, fish, eggs, beets, sour cream, and more. Heath used ChatGPT to compile the shopping list: 'If I have to buy food for ten Russian sailors, what should I buy?' The response included pork, chicken, fish, sour cream, potatoes, and eggs. The Coast Guard assisted with transportation, and the food is estimated to last a week.
'They were shocked that we came with food,' says Axvik–Larsson. Heath did not have time for long talks with the sailors but plans further visits to support their psychological and spiritual well-being.
On Thursday, a second vessel, Sea Owl 1, was boarded a few kilometers away, also suspected of being part of the shadow fleet and on the EU sanctions list. Civil defense minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) emphasizes that Sweden is pushing to uphold sanctions against Russia and that the Coast Guard has increased capability to act against ships with poor seaworthiness. Concerns exist about how long the ships will remain at sea, according to Hans Janstad.
