Swedish prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they have confiscated a cargo ship believed to be part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet, which was seized in early March on suspicion of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain. The 96-metre vessel, named Caffa, was intercepted by armed Swedish police on 6 March as it headed toward St. Petersburg.
During the boarding, authorities detained a crew member suspected of violating Sweden's maritime code and ship safety act, as well as using a forged document. The Swedish Prosecution Authority stated that the confiscation followed a request for legal assistance from an undisclosed foreign state. Prosecutor Håkan Larsson explained, "A foreign authority has asked for certain investigative measures to be carried out in Sweden, including one related to the vessel Caffa. I have decided to confiscate the vessel in order for the court to examine whether it can be handed over to the other state."
Shadow Fleet and Sanctions Evasion
Russia has reportedly assembled a flotilla of aging oil tankers with opaque ownership structures to circumvent sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, and the G7 following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These sanctions aim to limit Russia's revenues used to fund its war effort by shutting many tankers carrying Russian oil out of Western insurance and shipping systems.
The Caffa was sailing under a false Guinean flag, according to Sweden's coastguard, and was on Ukraine's sanctions list. Russia's embassy in Stockholm confirmed that ten of the eleven crew members are Russian nationals. Daniel Stenling, acting head of operations for the Swedish coastguard, told journalists in March that intelligence indicated the ship "has essentially been used to transport grain that is stolen, as we understand it, from Ukraine."
This incident is part of a broader pattern of suspected hybrid warfare by Russia against Western nations. Some experts and political leaders have also accused shadow fleet vessels of engaging in sabotage. In Finland, three crew members from the Cook Islands-registered shadow fleet ship Eagle S were charged in December 2024 with dragging the vessel's anchor across the seabed in the Gulf of Finland, damaging five undersea cables.
The confiscation of the Caffa underscores the ongoing tensions between Russia and European states over sanctions enforcement and the protection of critical infrastructure. For more on related developments, see our coverage of Ukraine and Israel Clash Over Russian Shipments of Stolen Grain and German Officials Warn of Russian-Linked Signal Phishing Campaign Targeting Politicians.
