The Swedish Coast Guard announced on Sunday that it had seized in the Baltic Sea a tanker believed to be a part of Russia's shadow fleet. This is just one of many similar actions taken by authorities in Sweden in recent months.

In a press release, the Swedish Coast Guard announced that police and it had boarded a ship flying the Syrian flag south of Trelleborg in Swedish territorial waters and started a preliminary investigation regarding a lack of seaworthiness.

The Coast Guard suspects the ship is sailing under a fake flag due to a number irregularities regarding its 'flag status' and does not meet the'requirements for seaworthiness, as set out in international agreements and regulations, it stated.

The Coast Guard said that the ship's destination was unknown and it was believed to have no cargo. It was listed on several sanction lists, including the ones of the "European Union" and Britain.

Carl-Oskar Bohlin said on X separately that the vessel 'was suspected to belong to the Russian so-called'shadow fleet.

European nations have intensified their efforts to disrupt the shadow fleet of tanks used by Moscow to finance its four-year conflict against Ukraine. Russia has called such actions hostile.

Sweden has so far stopped five ships this year on suspicion of various offenses, including oil spills, sailing under false flags, and opening criminal proceedings against crew members.

(source: Reuters)