Sweden seizes suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker

Swedish Coast Guard and a tanker
Police and coast guard officials boarded a Syrian-flagged oil tanker in Swedish territorial waters. -EPA

The Chinese captain of a seized oil tanker with suspected Russian links ‌has been arrested on suspicion of carrying false documents ‌and of violating laws on seaworthiness, a Swedish prosecutor says.

The coast guard and police on Sunday boarded the Syrian-flagged Jin Hui in Swedish territorial waters.

The captain, who was not named, will be interrogated later on Monday, Senior ‌Prosecutor Adrien ‌Combier-Hogg ⁠said in a statement. 

Authorities said the vessel was ​believed to belong to the shadow fleet, a clandestine network of vessels Russia has used to evade Western sanctions imposed on it in response to the Ukraine war. As European ⁠nations have increased their ‌efforts ​to disrupt the shadow fleet, Sunday's arrest of the ​Jin Hui was ‌Sweden's fifth such action this year.

Russia has not commented ​on the latest action, but has previously condemned interceptions of its vessels as hostile.

It was not ​immediately ​known how the suspect ​responded to the ship's seizure or ‌the accusations against him.

The coast guard said the ship, whose destination was unclear and which was not thought to be carrying a cargo, figured on several sanctions ​lists, including those of the European Union and Britain.