Swedish Customs said authorities inspected a Russian cargo ship anchored in Swedish waters on December 19 after it had engine failure. Inspection activities focus on goods on the ship.
According to Martin Hoglund - a spokesman for the Swedish Customs Authority, the owner of the Adler ship is currently on the list of sanctions issued by the European Union (EU).
At around 1am yesterday, we boarded the ship with the support of the Swedish Coast Guard and the police to conduct a customs inspection. The inspection is still ongoing, Mr. Hoglund informed on December 21.
The spokesperson declined to reveal what the customs authorities had discovered on the ship during the inspection.
According to data from the Marine Traffic ship tracking service, the Adler is a container ship, 126m long. The ship is anchored off the town of Hoganas in southwestern Sweden.
Not only is the Adler ship and its owner, M Leasing LLC, subject to US sanctions. According to the Open Sanctions database, the ship and its owner are suspected of being involved in arms transportation.
Mr. Hoglund said that the Adler left the Russian port of St Petersburg on December 15, but the Swedish customs agency had no information about the ship's next destination.
The night inspection campaign was chaired by the Swedish Customs Authority, in coordination with the Coast Guard, the National Special Forces, the Swedish Security Service and prosecutors.
Previously, in January 2021, the Adler was inspected by Greek forces in the Mediterranean. This activity was conducted within the framework of the EU's Irini Campaign, which aims to monitor the implementation of the United Nations arms embargo on Libya.
