The sea apart: Sweden decided to fight Russia's "shadow fleet"
The Baltic Sea is becoming another hot spot in the confrontation between the West and Russia. Next month, Stockholm will begin to tighten control over foreign ships in its waters. The authorities said this was necessary in order to combat Russia's so—called shadow fleet, vessels that the West believes are helping Moscow sell oil in circumvention of sanctions. While the EU and NATO are increasing pressure on Russia, it is responding with military exercises in the Baltic Sea. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
New month — new measures
The Swedish authorities have announced new measures against the so-called Russian shadow fleet. From July 1, the Coast Guard Service and the maritime Administration will begin collecting insurance data not only for ships entering Swedish ports, but also for all those passing through the country's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, according to a press release on the government's website.
Stockholm is strengthening surveillance of foreign vessels in Swedish territorial waters as a measure to "counteract" the passage of tankers allegedly engaged in the transportation of Russian energy resources. This is aimed "at strengthening maritime safety and environmental protection," according to the publication.
The Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Ulf Kristersson, explained that the initiative is aimed at strengthening the Swedish presence in the Baltic Sea and will have a deterrent effect.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson
"It also provides Sweden and our allies with important information about the vessels, which can be used as a basis for adding more shadow fleet vessels to the sanctions lists," he said.
In turn, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer stressed that this is not only about surveillance, but also about countering ships with unclear ownership, outdated technical characteristics and lack of legal insurance.
"We believe that this measure should have both a preventive deterrent effect on vessels belonging to the Russian shadow fleet and serve as a basis for taking other measures," he said.
The situation is escalating
Recently, the situation in the Baltic Sea region has become increasingly tense. At the end of May, the Baltic Fleet began maneuvers, which, according to its press service, involve 20 ships, about 25 aircraft and helicopters, as well as up to 70 units of military and special equipment. It is reported that the crews perform anti-submarine tasks, practice protection against unmanned boats, and also conduct artillery firing at targets on the water and in the air.
At the same time, on June 3, the Baltops 2025 NATO exercises started — traditional maneuvers that have been held in the region for more than 50 years.
In addition, in mid-May, the largest recent incident occurred in the Baltic Sea. The Estonian armed forces tried to detain a Gabonese-flagged oil tanker, which they considered part of the Russian "shadow fleet" and carrying sanctioned oil. There were four Russians among the crew members, as well as 17 Indians and Burmese.
The Estonian Navy, together with the aviation of the North Atlantic Alliance, demanded that the Jaguar tanker leave neutral waters in order to detain it later. Tallinn threatened the ship with a battering ram and tried to land troops. The Estonian authorities involved the patrol boat Rayu, the patrol ship Kurvitz, an amphibious helicopter, as well as a PZL M28 aircraft in the provocation.
In addition, MiG-29 aircraft of the Polish Air Force participated in the operation. At the same time, the ship ignored the attacks and continued to move towards the port of Primorsk. The hijacking attempts stopped when a Russian Su-35 fighter jet appeared on the horizon.
The tanker, accompanied by a tugboat, reached its destination safely. Tallinn accused Moscow of violating Estonia's airspace, and the country's Foreign Ministry summoned the charge d'affaires of the Russian Federation, who was handed a protest note. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Margus Tsakhna, called the incident a deplorable incident, Moscow did not comment on Tallinn's accusations in any way.
Cable incidents
In February, Politico reported on the European Union's plans to seize oil tankers in the Baltic Sea, allegedly linked to the Russian Federation. They could use international environmental and anti-piracy law as a justification, or adopt new national regulations.
The States of the Baltic region have been trying to damage maritime navigation for a long time. This, in particular, is due to the constant complaints about alleged sabotage with underwater cables that connect the Baltic countries.
In October 2023, the Balticconnector gas pipeline was seriously damaged, as a result, the countries started talking about a "Russian trace", although it later turned out that the accident was provoked by a Chinese vessel dragging an anchor along the seabed.
Eagle S tanker detained in Finland
In December last year, Finland detained the tanker Eagle S, en route from St. Petersburg to Egypt. He was suspected of involvement in the damage to the Estlink 2 underwater cable. A court in Helsinki arrested the ship and the cargo on board. Subsequently, it turned out that the ship had nothing to do with the accident and, together with the crew members, left Finland.
A month later, Stockholm arrested the Maltese-flagged ship Vezhen, which was en route from the Russian Federation. He was also suspected of damaging the cable. As a result, it turned out that it "was an unintentional accident, the breakdown of wires was facilitated by a combination of weather conditions, equipment deficiencies and navigation skills."
Nikolai Patrushev, assistant to the President of Russia and chairman of the Russian Maritime Board, said that Britain, along with other countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, is trying to impose on European states the possibility of arresting Russian ships in the Baltic Sea allegedly because of threats to nature and infrastructure, but Moscow is carefully monitoring these actions by unfriendly countries and is preparing countermeasures.
What do the experts think
Dmitry Officer-Belsky, head of the Baltic Region Integrated Research Group at the IMEMO RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia that the discussion of this topic began a couple of years ago.
— However, control measures are a rather complicated issue. What is control? Just count the number of ships that go one way and then the other, already loaded with something? Although, in principle, they are also trying to track this," the political scientist believes.
According to the expert, there are several approaches. The first is to stop ships based on some formal criteria. However, it will be quite difficult to do this.
— If a ship enters a port, it can be detained without any problems, but this is in ports, there is no need for vessels of the so—called shadow fleet to enter Swedish ports, either technically or otherwise. Ships of the so-called shadow fleet do not sail through Swedish waters. Theoretically, they can enter Swedish waters in the straits between the Baltic and the North Sea for some reason, but these straits are called Danish. There are several ways to go there without running aground, and several more ways for vessels with a small draft," the specialist explained.
In addition, Dmitry Officer-Belsky clarifies, these vessels are owned by legal entities of third countries, fly the flags of Ghana, Belize, Panama, and they can very conditionally be attributed to Russia. In his opinion, Sweden's actions can only be perceived as a kind of support for the measures that Denmark is currently taking.
—Copenhagen's approach is as follows: under certain conventions supplementing international maritime law, in particular, the Convention on the International Law of the Sea of 1982, it is prohibited to obstruct the passage of ships," the expert recalls.
According to Ofitserov-Belsky, the Danes are trying to find ways to circumvent existing norms and conventions. For example, if a ship is anchored, it means that it can be delayed. In addition, Copenhagen is trying to use the issue of environmental friendliness of ships that pass through their territorial waters with Russian oil products. When this fails, other methods are used, for example, to claim that the ship is insured not by those insurers who, in their opinion, inspire international confidence.
Vsevolod Shimov, adviser to the president of the Russian Association of Baltic Studies, believes that what is happening can be considered "a rehearsal for a full-fledged naval blockade of Russia."
— The possibility of closing the Baltic Sea has long been discussed in the West. After Stockholm and Helsinki joined the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO controls almost the entire coast, conducts regular exercises and builds up its positions. Various obstacles are being put in the way of Russian shipping under far-fetched pretexts of threats to the underwater infrastructure. It is in this region that a new conflict is most likely to arise," the expert concluded.
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