Sweden arrests Chinese captain of suspected Russia-linked vessel


Tanker Jin Hui, which was boarded by the Swedish Coast Guard off the coast outside Trelleborg, Sweden, May 3, 2026. TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson via REUTERS

OSLO, May 4 (Reuters) - ⁠The Chinese captain of a seized oil tanker ⁠with suspected Russian links has been placed under ‌arrest on suspicion of carrying false documents and of violating laws on seaworthiness, a Swedish prosecutor said on Monday.

The coast guard and ​police on Sunday boarded the Syrian-flagged ⁠Jin Hui in ⁠Swedish territorial waters.

The captain, who was not named, will be ⁠interrogated ‌on Monday, Senior Prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg said in a statement.

Authorities said the vessel was believed ⁠to belong to the shadow fleet, a ​clandestine network ‌of vessels Russia has used to evade Western sanctions ⁠imposed on ​it in response to the Ukraine war.

As European nations have increased their efforts to disrupt the shadow fleet, ⁠Sunday's arrest of the Jin Hui ​was Sweden's fifth such action this year.

Russia has not commented on the latest action, but has previously condemned interceptions ⁠of its vessels as hostile.

It was not immediately known how the suspect responded to the ship's seizure or the accusations against him.

The coast guard said the ship, ​whose destination was unclear and which ⁠was not thought to be carrying a cargo, figured ​on several sanctions lists, including ‌those of the European Union and ​Britain.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Jesus Calero in Gdansk; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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