Sweden detains its second Russia-bound “shadow fleet” vessel in the past week

The Swedish Coast Guard has detained another tanker bound for a Russian port on suspicion of flying a false flag. The vessel Sea Owl I (IMO: 9321172) is the second such ship detained by Swedish authorities in the past week.

The tanker, which is included on the EU’s “shadow fleet” sanctions list, was detained on the evening of March 12. Although it sails under the flag of the Comoros Islands, Sweden’s coast guard suspects that the vessel “is not included in [the country’s] ship register, that it is sailing under a false flag, and that there is therefore no flag state that can vouch for the safety on board.”

“Our overall assessment is that the risk of safety deficiencies on board is high. On this basis, the vessel cannot be allowed innocent passage. The threats to maritime safety and the environment are too high. Therefore, there is a basis for an intervention against the ship,” commented Daniel Stenling, Deputy Chief of Operations at the Swedish Coast Guard.

The preliminary investigation now concerns the vessel’s seaworthiness.

Analysts at Starboard Maritime Intell​​igence likewise suspect the vessel of sailing under a false flag, and in the Equasis database, its registration is listed as “Comoros FALSE.” The validity of the insurance Sea Owl I claims to carry is also in question.

According to the Swedish Coast Guard, the tanker was heading to the Russian port of Primorsk from Santos, Brazil. Vessel-tracking data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence shows that the ship left the Brazilian port on Feb. 15 and was expected to arrive in the port of Tallinn around March 15, likely as an intermediate destination before calling at Primorsk. The Sea Owl I has made several voyages between Russian and Brazilian ports.

The detained vessel has been on the EU sanctions list since October of last year for its role in Russia’s “shadow fleet” — ships involved in transporting sanctioned Russian oil.

“The Russian shadow fleet poses a significant security and environmental threat. The fleet consists of hundreds of vessels that are often outdated, poorly maintained, flying false flags, or completely stateless. The problem primarily concerns the circumvention of sanctions against Russia, particularly regarding oil exports, but also the environment, poor seamanship, and inadequate insurance arrangements. A major accident risks causing extensive damage and would require substantial resources for rescue services and cleanup,” Sweden’s minister for civil defense, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, said following the detention of Sea Owl I.

The Sea Owl I is the second Russia-bound vessel detained by Swedish authorities in the past week. On March 6, the dry cargo ship Caffa (IMO: 9143611), bound for St. Petersburg, was detained off the country’s southern coast. It too was suspected of sailing under a false flag. Caffa had previously been accused of transporting grain from Sevastopol, located in Russian-occupied Crimea, to the Syrian port of Tartus.