Sweden releases sanctioned tanker due to lack of evidence it caused oil spill

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Swedish authorities have released a European Union-sanctioned tanker that was intercepted and detained on suspicion of causing an oil spill in the Baltic Sea.

The Swedish Coast Guard said it did not find sufficient evidence that the Flora 1 tanker was at fault in the 12-kilometer (8-mile) long leak discovered on Thursday.

The coast guard said investigators also found that Cameroon confirmed the ship was sailing under that country’s flag, but that was not clear when the ship and its 24-person crew were stopped on Friday.

Flora 1 was placed on the EU’s list of sanctioned ships for transporting Russian oil “while engaging in irregular and high-risk shipping practices”. Unsafe practices may include turning off the automatic tracking system that transmits the ship’s location to other ships.

The sanctions target the “shadow fleet”, which emerged in response to a price ceiling on Russian oil imposed by the Group of Seven Democracies to limit revenues financing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The cap was enforced by preventing insurance and shipping companies from handling oil above the cap.

The fleet consists of aging tankers that are owned and insured and located in countries that do not comply with the price cap. The ships’ age and lack of Western insurance have raised safety concerns about oil spills and who will foot the bill for the cleanup.

According to the Ukrainian government, Flora 1 was owned by a Hong Kong company as of late 2025 and was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia. It changed its name six times and its flag country nine times. He was observed to turn off its automatic tracking system, a step that conceals a ship’s location, and to engage in a ship-to-ship transfer, which may have been a way to disguise the origin of an oil cargo.

The sanctions prohibit any transactions involving the mentioned ships.