Swedish maritime authorities seized control of a cargo vessel in Baltic Sea waters on Friday afternoon, citing concerns about the ship’s legal status and registration.
Coast guard officials boarded the vessel at approximately 3:50 p.m. near Trelleborg, a coastal town in southern Sweden, according to an official statement. Authorities questioned the legitimacy of the ship’s flag registration and considered it to be operating without proper documentation.
The vessel, named Caffa, was flying a Guinean flag at the time of the seizure, but Swedish authorities determined it should be classified as stateless under domestic and international maritime regulations. Law enforcement officials suspect the ship was operating under fraudulent flag documentation.
Maritime tracking data shows the Caffa is a 96-meter cargo freighter used for general shipping purposes.
Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin revealed on social media that the vessel appears on Ukraine’s sanctions list as a freight ship.
“The ownership structure is unclear and there are suspicions that the vessel is not insured. As recently as this summer, the ship is said to have changed from a Russian to a Guinean flag,” Bohlin wrote.
Maritime officials have opened a formal investigation into potential violations of shipping laws related to vessel safety and seaworthiness standards.
“The Coast Guard has personnel on board to gather information about the condition of the vessel and crew, conduct searches, and conduct interviews,” authorities stated.
