Sweden Detains Russian Shadow Fleet Captain

Swedish authorities detained the Russian captain of the tanker *Sea Owl One* on Friday, March 8, in Ystad, Sweden, on suspicion of using forged documents. The 55-year-old captain was arrested after the Swedish Coast Guard boarded the vessel in Swedish territorial waters south of Trelleborg, suspecting it was operating under a bogus Comoran flag and in breach of international law.

The *Sea Owl One*, a 228-meter tanker sanctioned by the European Union, was traveling from Santos, Brazil, to Primorsk, Russia, and is suspected of being part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' used to circumvent Western sanctions on oil exports.

This detention follows a similar incident on March 6, when Swedish authorities seized the Guinean-flagged cargo ship *Caffa* on suspicion of carrying stolen Ukrainian grain. The *Sea Owl One* incident highlights ongoing efforts by Western nations to counter Russia's use of a shadow fleet to maintain oil revenues despite sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Russian embassy in Sweden confirmed that 10 of the 24 crew members, including the captain, are Russian citizens.