The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced Monday that the Russian captain of a vessel seized in the Baltic Sea on Friday has been arrested on suspicion of using false documents, as well as violating Sweden’s Maritime Act and Ship Safety Act.
On Friday, March 6, the Swedish Coast Guard announced it had boarded a Russian false-flag vessel in Swedish territorial waters as part of “Operation Black Coffee.” The cargo ship “Caffa” was sailing under the Guinean flag when it was boarded off the coast of Trelleborg, a town in southern Sweden.
According to Svenska Dagblaget, the captain of the vessel has been in custody since Saturday.
“The man is suspected of having presented and referred to several suspected false maritime certificates when the Coast Guard searched the ship. We are now questioning the suspect and others involved,” Swedish prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg said.
The crew is predominantly Russian and information found on the ship suggests that it was headed for St. Petersburg, authorities said.
According to TV4 Nyheterna, Daniel Stenling, deputy chief of operations of the Swedish Coast Guard, said that authorities believe the ship is on a Ukrainian sanctions list for its role in transporting stolen Ukrainian grain.
As of the summer of last year, Ukraine estimated that Russia had stolen 15 million tons of grain from its occupied territories since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
According to Swedish Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin, cited by TVP World, the ship is said to have changed from Russian to Guinean flag as recently as last summer.
“The ownership structure is unclear and there are suspicions that the vessel is not insured,” Bohlin added.
Authorities are also investigating concerns about the ship’s seaworthiness.
“It is serious that ships sailing in Swedish waters, and in our territorial waters, have such deficiencies that they pose a threat to maritime safety and maritime traffic, our shipping lanes and ports and, not least, to the environment,” Stenling said.
The ship has been given an international operating ban by the Swedish Transport Agency, as per TV4 Nyheterna. The ship is therefore not allowed to continue sailing until its deficiencies have been rectified.
Baltic and North Sea countries have seen increased traffic to and from Russian ports in recent months, as Russia seeks to export more raw materials to keep its economy afloat.
On Jan. 26, 14 countries including Sweden pledged to step up action against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
“Grateful to Sweden for taking decisive action against the Russian shadow fleet vessel ‘Caffa’,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on X on Saturday, describing its seizure as a “welcome development.”
“Sanctions work when they are strictly enforced. Together, we must stop the activities of Russia’s shadow fleet to protect Europe’s security and environment,” he added.