A Swedish court has ordered the detention of the unnamed Russian captain of the tanker Sea Owl One. Authorities arrested him Friday in Ystad on suspicion of using forged documents.
The 228-meter vessel was intercepted Thursday evening south of Trelleborg while sailing under a Comoran flag Swedish authorities suspect is invalid. The Sea Owl One - listed on EU sanctions - had been traveling from Santos, Brazil to Primorsk, Russia and previously transported oil between those countries.
Swedish prosecutors confirmed the 55-year-old captain is in custody, typically for up to 14 days. Ten of the 24 crew members are Russian; the rest are Indonesian.
This marks Sweden’s second shadow fleet seizure in one week - following the Guinean-flagged Caffa on March 6. France has also seized shadow fleet tankers including the Grinch and Boracay.
Moscow’s shadow fleet enables evasion of Western oil sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine - using false flags, spoofed location data, and obfuscated ownership.