An oil slick 12 km off the Swedish island of Gotland has led to the detention of a tanker the authorities believe belongs to Russia’s “shadow fleet.” The Swedish Coast Guard announced the detention on Friday, and Reuters reported it.
The vessel is the “Flora 1.” The Coast Guard said it is probably the source of the spill. According to MarineTraffic, the tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk, and its destination is unknown. The Coast Guard does not expect the oil to reach the shore. An investigation into a suspected environmental crime is now open.
As far as is known, the ship appears on the EU sanctions list. Its flag status remains unclear.
Minister: “not a major oil spill”
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Sweden’s minister for civil defense, named the tanker in a post on X. “Russia’s shadow fleet, consisting of old, poorly insured tankers that circumvent sanctions, poses a significant threat to security and the environment,” he wrote.
The government treats the episode seriously, he added, “even though this time it is not a major oil spill.”
The Coast Guard has stepped up its work against vessels with Russian links over recent months. Flora 1 was taken off the southern coast of Sweden. Across Europe, countries have pushed harder to stop the tankers Moscow uses to pay for its war against Ukraine.
