For the fourth winter season in a row, staff from the Swedish Coast Guard and the Swedish Police Authority are stationed on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean, on assignment for Frontex. Thousands of migrants arrive there every year because of the vicinity to the North African coast.
Last week, the Swedish Coast Guard held a pollution response exercise in the Stockholm archipelago. Personnel from the Djurö and Oxelösund coast guard stations practised responding to a simulated oil spill using the Coast Guard's pollution response equipment.
The vessel Sea Owl 1 has been at anchor off Trelleborg since March. It may now leave its position and continue its voyage. This follows a decision today by the Swedish Transport Agency to lift the ban on use. Sea Owl 1 is now flagged in Equatorial Guinea.
On Wednesday 30 September, European satellite surveillance detected a suspected oil spill at sea, in the shipping lane south-east of Gotland. The Swedish Coast Guard sent both aircraft and vessels to the position. By Thursday morning, however, there was no longer any trace of the spill.
The Ukrainian coast guard, the Maritime Guard, was prepared for conventional warfare. It had trained and had cooperation agreements with the Navy. But everything was thrown overboard when Russia attacked on a large scale in 2022. The reality turned out to be completely different.
The Coast Guard's figures for this year's summer months show high compliance across the country with the rules on drunk boating, speeding and personal watercraft use.
In mid-September, the heads of the Nordic coast guard organisations met in Karlskrona. The Coast Guard led an exchange of experiences on challenges linked to hybrid threats and the so-called shadow fleet.
The Swedish Coast Guard continuously improves our crews' ability to understand, identify and counter the effects of GNSS interference at sea. Even in an environment with interference, the Coast Guard must be able to carry out our duties safely.
On 25–27 August 2026, Sweden hosted Helcom's annual Balex exercise in Sigtuna. Together, the participants represent a large part of the combined specialist expertise in oil spill response in the Baltic Sea region. The exercise was organised jointly by the Swedish Coast Guard, the Swedish Agency for Civil Defence (Myndigheten för civilt försvar) and the County Administrative Board of Stockholm (Länsstyrelsen i Stockholm).
All vessels that are classed for international traffic (with an ISSC, International Ship Security Certificate) and that call at a Swedish port must submit a pre-arrival notification for maritime security before the port call.
Late on the evening of Tuesday 28 July, an accident involving a leisure boat and a merchant vessel occurred off Tjörn. According to unconfirmed information, which the police are now investigating with support from the Coast Guard, the leisure boat and the vessel are said to have collided. The exact circumstances are not known at present.\u00A0
From 1 July, the Swedish Coast Guard and some other authorities can assist the Swedish Enforcement Authority with remote distraint of goods. This means more assets can be found that would otherwise be difficult to seize.
The Coast Guard continues to be the government agency with the highest reputation among the public. In the analysis company Verian's annual survey of Swedes' views on government agencies, the Coast Guard tops the list for the sixth year in a row.
The current security situation requires a greater presence and operational capability in the maritime environment. During Almedalen Week, the Swedish Coast Guard is holding several timely seminars to highlight developments.
