The chemical tanker Flora 1, suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” remains under detention by Swedish authorities as investigations continue into a 12-kilometer (8-mile) oil spill in the Baltic Sea, Swedish officials said on Saturday, April 4.
Contrary to earlier reports, the EU-sanctioned vessel has not been released. Moa Hörnquist, communications officer at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, confirmed to Svenska Dagbladet and Sydsvenskan that the tanker is still suspected of environmental crimes. Furthermore, a preliminary investigation regarding a lack of seaworthiness is currently ongoing.
While two crew members suspected of environmental crimes were released following interrogations, the vessel itself remains anchored off Sweden’s southern coast. A third individual was scheduled for questioning on Saturday afternoon, according to Hörnquist.
The Flora 1, which was reportedly en route from the Russian port of Primorsk to Santos, Brazil, was boarded by the Swedish Coast Guard on Friday after the spill was detected east of the island of Gotland.
Swedish Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin emphasized the gravity of the situation, noting that Russia’s shadow fleet of older, inadequately insured tankers poses a major security and environmental threat to the region.
The incident in the Baltic coincides with a period of significant disruption to Russia’s energy exports. On March 25, market data indicated that up to 40 percent of Russia’s oil export capacity had been taken offline following a series of Ukrainian drone strikes on key terminals, including the Transneft facility in Primorsk.
The Swedish Coast Guard has stepped up its monitoring of suspected shadow fleet vessels in recent weeks, having boarded the cargo ship Caffa and the tanker Sea Owl I in early March under similar suspicions of sanctions evasion and environmental risks.
The legal challenges of policing the shadow fleet were further highlighted on March 30, when a French court in Brest issued an arrest warrant and a one-year jail sentence against Chen Zhangjie, the captain of the Boracay tanker. Zhangjie was sentenced in absentia and ordered to pay a €150,000 ($172,000) fine for failing to comply with orders during a similar boarding in September.