A crew member of a tanker from the Russian “shadow fleet” was detained in Sweden
17.05.2026 - 11:33
The Swedish Coast Guard has detained a crew member of the Sea Owl tanker on suspicion of using forged documents.
A crew member of the Sea Owl I vessel, which was previously stopped on suspicion of sailing under a false flag, was detained in Trelleborg. The Swedish Coast Guard reported this, writes Sweden Herald.
The identity of the detainee has not been officially disclosed. At the same time, several local media outlets reported that it was a new captain of the vessel.
Recall that the Sea Owl I tanker was detained on March 12. This happened after border guards discovered that the vessel was likely traveling through the country’s territorial waters under a false flag.
The vessel is considered one of the tankers of the so-called Russian “shadow fleet”, which is used to transport oil in circumvention of international sanctions.
Recently, the Sea Owl I tried to change its registration from the Comoros Islands to Cameroon in order to obtain permission to pass through Swedish territorial waters. However, as established by the Swedish authorities, the change of flag turned out to be fictitious, due to which plans to release the vessel were suspended.
The captain of this vessel had previously been taken into custody, but was later released.
