The Swedish Prosecutor's Office said it has decided to temporarily detain the captain of the oil tanker Sea Owl I on charges of using fake papers - TASS reported.
According to prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg, authorities searched the ship on March 12, and questioned the crew members before making a decision to temporarily detain the captain.
Searches were conducted on the ship and the crew were questioned. Based on the initial investigation results, I decided to temporarily detain the captain on suspicion of using forged documents, an act constituting a crime," the prosecutor said. The crew members were not arrested.
According to the plan, the captain will be questioned at the weekend in the presence of a defense lawyer. The prosecution will decide before noon on March 16 whether to continue detention or release this person.
The Swedish Coast Guard said that the Sea Owl I ship is suspected of flying a fake flag of the Comoros. Authorities suspect the ship was not registered in the country's registration system, meaning the ship could operate without a legal flag-raising country responsible for safety.
According to information from the Swedish Coast Guard, the ship, about 228m long, left Santos port of Brazil on February 15 and is believed to be en route to Tallinn, Estonia.
However, when Swedish police boarded the ship for inspection off the coast of Trelleborg town, authorities said that the ship's real destination could be the port of Primorsk, located near the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Swedish Coast Guard said that Sea Owl I is on the European Union (EU) sanctions list and has transported oil products between Brazil and Russia in recent years.
Authorities suspect the ship is related to Russia's so-called "dark fleet" - a complex ownership structured oil tanker network, often using convenient flags or vague registrations to evade Western sanctions.
In October last year, the EU imposed sanctions on nearly 120 oil tankers suspected of belonging to this network.
The seizure of the Sea Owl I ship took place just days after Swedish police intercepted another cargo ship suspected of belonging to Russia's "dark fleet" and accused of transporting grain from Ukraine on March 7.
Swedish authorities searched the ship and interrogated 11 crew members, including 10 people of Russian nationality.
The ship named Caffa and its captain - a Russian citizen - have also been temporarily detained to serve the investigation into violations related to safety regulations and the ship's navigation capability.
Russian Ambassador to Sweden Sergey Belyayev said that the Russian Embassy is closely monitoring the incident and is ready to provide all necessary consular assistance to relevant Russian citizens.
