Suspicion of oil pollution in the Baltic Sea: Sweden stops the tanker “Flora 1” off Ystad. The ship could be part of Russia’s shadow fleet. (symbol image)Image: Screenshot: YouTube
April 3, 2026, 3:47 p.mApril 3, 2026, 3:47 p.m
The Swedish coast guard has searched a tanker suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. The crew is suspected of being responsible for a large-scale mineral oil spill in the Baltic Sea east of Gotland. The investigation revealed that the tanker, the “Flora 1,” was on the European Union’s sanctions list, the coast guard said. The status of the flag is unclear.
According to the information, the “Flora 1” was brought to an anchorage off Ystad. The ship was traveling from a port in the Gulf of Finland with an unclear destination. The Swedish public prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation. According to the website “Vesselfinder,” which tracks ship position data, the tanker came from the Russian port of Ust-Luga.
With ships from the so-called shadow fleet, Russia is trying to circumvent the sanctions imposed by its Western allies during the Ukraine war. They are usually older tankers, which are at a higher risk of environmental pollution due to, among other things, leaky oil tanks. (sda/dpa/fwa)