Requesting information on insurance
From 1 July 2025, the Swedish Coast Guard may request information about a vessel’s insurance status when it is in Sweden’s territorial sea and exclusive economic zone. This information is part of Sweden’s civil maritime situational awareness and is intended to improve safety and environmental protection at sea.
Summary
- From 1 July 2025, the Swedish Coast Guard may contact a vessel by radio to request information about the vessel’s insurance cover.
- The choice of which vessels to contact is based on specific criteria that identify a vessel as of interest. For example, a vessel suspected of belonging to the so-called shadow fleet or that is heading to or from a Russian port would meet these criteria.
- When contacted, a vessel is under no obligation to disclose whether or not it is insured. However, regardless of whether the information is disclosed, the response contributes to civil maritime situational awareness and will be shared with relevant government agencies and, where relevant, authorities in other countries.
- The Swedish Maritime Administration already contacts vessels en route through the Sound to Swedish ports to request insurance information. The new ordinance allows the Swedish Coast Guard to radio vessels in Sweden’s territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.
The information is part of Sweden’s civil maritime situational awareness
Pursuant to Ordinance (2025:608) on the Collection and Sharing of Insurance Information concerning Certain Foreign Vessels (in Swedish: Förordning (2025:608) om insamling och delning av försäkringsinformation för vissa utländska fartyg), the Swedish Coast Guard and Swedish Maritime Administration are permitted to collect and share information on whether or not vessels sailing in Swedish waters are insured and, if so, what type of insurance they have. Vessels are, however, not obliged to disclose such information. Regardless of whether a vessel chooses to disclose information, the response contributes to civil maritime situational awareness and is expected to facilitate the identification of vessels that may be subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union.
The Swedish Coast Guard is already responsible for civil maritime situational awareness, and has good knowledge concerning the movements of and incidents involving merchant shipping in our coastal waters. This is an extension of that assignment.
The information collected from vessels will be shared with the Swedish Maritime Administration and may be passed on to other government agencies, as well as foreign authorities and intergovernmental organisations such as the EU, NATO and the United Nations.
According to international conventions, shipping companies must insure their vessels
The costs associated with accidents and spills are considerable. Vessels are generally insured so that coastal states do not need to meet these costs. However, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the increase in oil shipments from Russia to finance the war, the number of tankers with dubious insurance cover has increased significantly over recent years. One reason for this is to keep shipping costs as low as possible.
The Convention on the Law of the Sea allows states to take operational measures
The Swedish ordinance is adapted to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As such, there is no obligation on the part of the crew to disclose whether or not the vessel is insured, or what type of insurance cover it has. Nor are there any sanctions or penalties if a ship is uninsured. As a general rule, neither the Swedish Coast Guard nor other Swedish authorities are permitted to interfere with or hinder a vessel exercising the right of innocent passage through Sweden’s territorial sea or exclusive economic zone, i.e., that has chosen a route through territorial waters but does not intend to call at any port or to drop anchor. There are however exceptions. Swedish authorities may intervene and take measures in the exclusive economic zone if, for example, there is a suspicion that an offence against environmental or fisheries legislation is ongoing.
The fundamental principle is freedom of navigation
The law of the sea exists to secure the right to free shipping: the sea is free. However, the closer one gets to the coast, the more this freedom is restricted. The inverse applies in that, while a coastal state has complete jurisdiction and can exercise it authority in its internal waters and territorial sea, these powers decrease the further from the coast a vessel is.
The country whose flag a vessel flies is called the flag state. The flag state has complete jurisdiction over the vessel in international waters regardless of where in the world the vessel is. This implies that the Swedish authorities have every right to investigate crimes committed on a Swedish-flagged vessel whether it is in the Baltic Sea or the Pacific. That said, if a vessel is in another country’s territorial waters, that state also has the possibility to intervene.
Reporting obligations
Vessels calling at Swedish ports have already earlier been obliged to report certain information, including on insurance. The same obligation applies to vessels passing through the busy shipping lanes of the Sound, which are difficult to navigate. There are two routes into and out of the Baltic Sea: through the Sound or through the Great Belt in Denmark.