Sanctioned ship suspected of causing oil spill in Baltic Sea

Early on Thursday, a Coast Guard surveillance aircraft detected a mineral oil spill east of Gotland. The spill was over 12 kilometers long at the time. The ship Flora 1 was identified early on as being of interest to the investigation.

The vessel is now anchoring south of Ystad. The operation is being conducted in cooperation with the Swedish Police.

− 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, says Daniel Stenling, Deputy Head of Operations at the Coast Guard.

− If there is a suspicious vessel, we intervene. Shipping should know that we maintain order at sea and are acting to increase maritime safety, says Daniel Stenling.

The ship in question, 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.

− 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, says Daniel Stenling.

The ship is carrying oil. There are 24 crew members on board.

The Baltic Sea is an extremely sensitive ecosystem, and there is zero tolerance for emissions. Intervening against ships that pollute is part of the Coast Guard's everyday work.

• The crime was committed in the Swedish economic zone, outside Swedish territory.
• According to international agreements, in the economic zone, the coastal state has the authority to intervene against and investigate, for example, environmental crimes and fishing crimes.
• In cases like this, the Coast Guard can order the vessel in question to proceed to Swedish territorial waters to anchor, which facilitates the investigation.
• 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.