Sweden Seizes Shadow Fleet Tanker Jin Hui, Russia Demands Answers

(MENAFN) Russia's Embassy in Sweden has formally requested clarification from Swedish authorities over whether any of its nationals are among those aboard the detained oil tanker Jin Hui, seized over the weekend as part of an escalating European crackdown on Moscow's sanctions-evading fleet.

"The Russian Embassy in Sweden has sent a request to the Swedish Coast Guard to clarify whether there are any Russian citizens on board the detained tanker Jin Hui," the embassy said in a statement published on Telegram. The diplomatic mission confirmed that no official reply had been received as of Monday.

The detention followed a Sunday boarding operation conducted by Sweden's Coast Guard near the southern port town of Trelleborg, where authorities intercepted the vessel on suspicion of operating within Russia's so-called shadow fleet — a network of ships believed to be covertly ferrying Russian oil in defiance of Western sanctions.

Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin announced the operation on X, the US social media platform owned by Elon Musk. "The Coast Guard has today boarded another vessel suspected of being part of the Russian shadow fleet. The vessel is named Jin Hui and is suspected of sailing under a false flag," he said.

Bohlin further noted that investigators are looking into concerns regarding the ship's seaworthiness and absence of valid insurance coverage. The Jin Hui also appears on the sanctions lists maintained by the EU, the UK, and Ukraine, compounding the legal exposure surrounding the vessel and those connected to its operations.

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