The Swedish Coast Guard has decided to launch a probe into a ship suspected of causing an oil spill in the Baltic Sea, east of Gotland , ordering the vessel to anchor in Swedish territorial waters.
A prosecutor is leading a preliminary probe into suspected environmental crimes, after the Swedish Coast Guard seized a ship to facilitate the investigation into its involvement in a mineral oil spill east of Gotland, which its surveillance aircraft detected.
The Flora 1 oil tanker was identified early on as being of interest to the investigation into the spill, which was over 12 kilometers long at the time. The vessel is now anchoring south of Ystad. The operation is being conducted in cooperation with the Swedish Police.
The Swedish Coast Guard has confirmed that the ship, which was en route from a port in the Gulf of Finland with a stated destination of Santos in Brazil, has an unclear flag status and is on the EU sanctions list .
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Daniel Stenling , Deputy Head of Operations at the Coast Guard, commented: “We act when we detect emissions. This is a result of our enhanced maritime surveillance that we are conducting as a result of the deteriorating security situation in the Baltic Sea region. If there is a suspicious vessel, we intervene.
“Shipping should know that we maintain order at sea and are acting to increase maritime safety. It is without doubt interesting in this context that the ship is surrounded by various uncertainties in addition to being suspected of an oil spill. Whether this entails further criminal suspicions will be revealed by the investigation.”
Sweden’s Coast Guard explains that the ship is carrying oil, with 24 crew members on board. The Baltic Sea is seen as an extremely sensitive ecosystem, with zero tolerance for emissions. The reported crime was committed in the Swedish economic zone, outside Swedish territory.
Thanks to international agreements for such cases, the coastal state has the authority to intervene against and investigate issues such as environmental and fishing crimes.
“As far as we know, this is the first time we have been able to trace a discharge to a vessel subject to sanctions, and which may be suspected of environmental crimes,” added the Swedish Coast Guard.