LONDON, April 3 (Bernama-dpa) -- The Swedish Coastguard has searched a tanker thought to belong to the Russian shadow fleet.
The investigation revealed that the tanker, the Flora 1, is on the European Union’s sanctions list, the Coastguard said on Friday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The crew is suspected of being responsible for a large-scale oil spill in the Baltic Sea east of Gotland. Its flag status is unclear.
The Coastguard said the Flora 1 was taken to an anchorage off Ystad. The ship had been en route from a port in the Gulf of Finland with an unclear destination. The Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a preliminary investigation.
The website Vesselfinder, which tracks the position data of ships, indicates that the tanker came from the Russian port of Ust-Luga.
Russia is attempting to circumvent the sanctions imposed by Western allies during the war on Ukraine using ships in its shadow fleet.
These are mostly older tankers, which pose a higher risk of environmental pollution, including from leaking oil tanks.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
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