STOCKHOLM – Swedish authorities have taken custody of a tanker linked to Russia’s controversial sanctioned shadow fleet, marking the fifth seizure of a questionable vessel in Swedish territorial waters in recent weeks, the country’s top civil defense official has confirmed.
The Jin Hui, which was found transiting the Baltic Sea through Swedish waters flying a Syrian flag, was boarded and detained by the Swedish Coast Guard on Sunday. Along with its connections to the Russian shadow fleet, authorities have raised multiple red flags about the ship: it is suspected of using fraudulent flag registration, and questions remain about whether it meets international seaworthiness safety standards. As of Monday, the tanker remained anchored off the southern Swedish port of Trelleborg.
In a post to the social platform X, Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin confirmed the vessel appears on the European Union, United Kingdom and Ukraine sanctions designations lists. On Monday, Swedish prosecuting officials announced the ship’s captain, a Chinese national, has been taken into custody on suspicion of forging official documents and other related maritime violations.
The seizure adds to a growing pattern of enforcement by Swedish maritime authorities targeting unsafe and sanction-violating vessels operating in the Baltic. “Ships with suspected deficiencies in their seaworthiness continue to sail in Swedish waters. This is not acceptable. We have intervened before, now we are intervening again,” said Daniel Stenling, the Swedish Coast Guard’s deputy chief of operations.
As of Wednesday, Russia’s embassy in Stockholm had not responded to requests for comment on the incident.
The operation comes as part of Sweden’s broader ongoing crackdown on vessels connected to Russian sanctioned energy and commodity trade. Last year, the Scandinavian nation announced it would ramp up mandatory insurance checks for all foreign vessels passing through its waters, a policy crafted specifically to tighten restrictions on Russian ships accused of smuggling oil, gas, and illegally seized Ukrainian grain.