Sweden arrests Chinese captain of suspected ‘shadow fleet’ ship

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The Chinese captain of a ship that Sweden boarded this weekend over suspicions it belonged to Russia’s “shadow fleet” has been arrested, the Swedish prosecution authority said on Monday.

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Sweden’s coast guard on Sunday boarded the 182-metre (597-foot) Jin Hui, suspected of sailing under a false Syrian flag. It was the latest of several boardings carried out by the Scandinavian country.

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Moscow’s “shadow fleet” consists of vessels used to skirt Western sanctions.

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They are often ageing ships in poor condition, without proper insurance and with opaque ownership, raising concerns about the risk of an accident.

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The Jin Hui is on the sanctions lists of the EU, Britain, and Ukraine, Sweden’s Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said on Sunday.

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The captain, a Chinese national, was arrested “on suspicion of using a forged document” and of violating Sweden’s maritime code regarding “lack of seaworthiness”, the prosecution authority said in a statement.

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“An interrogation of the detainee will be held during the day, and contact has been initiated with other authorities and countries,” the prosecutor leading the investigation, Adrien Combier-Hogg, said.

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AFP

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