Sweden detained a cargo ship in the Baltic Sea that was heading to St. Petersburg under the flag of Guinea
Out of 11 crew members of the vessel, 10 have Russian citizenship.
Photo: Swedish Coast Guard
Sweden detained a cargo ship in the Baltic Sea, which was heading to St. Petersburg under the flag of Guinea, reports the SVT publication.
The Coast Guard reports that it took control of the vessel Caffa on Friday at 3:50 PM near the city of Trelleborg. This was a planned operation together with police aviation and a national special forces unit.
The vessel is on Ukraine's sanctions list. According to Ukrainian authorities, it was involved in the theft of grain from Crimea.
The vessel sails under the flag of Guinea, however, the flag's status, according to the Coast Guard, remains unclear.
"As a state, Sweden has the authority to intervene in this case against a vessel whose flag status is highly unclear; we consider it a vessel under a false flag," says Mattias Lindholm, head of the Coast Guard's press service.
The vessel was loaded with grain and, according to information from the ship itself, was heading to St. Petersburg.
The Coast Guard has launched a preliminary investigation on suspicion of violating maritime law due to non-compliance with navigability requirements. The operation continues at sea.
The detention of the vessel was commented on by the Russian Embassy in Sweden:
"According to a report from the Swedish Coast Guard, received on March 7, out of 11 crew members of the vessel, 10 have Russian citizenship. The Swedish side assures that the situation on board is calm."
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