The Swedish coast guard has detained the Russian “shadow fleet” tanker Flora 1 (IMO: 9307815), which is suspected of causing an oil spill in the Baltic Sea east of the island of Gotland, according to an official statement. The vessel is loaded with oil and has 24 crew members on board. This is the first case of a “shadow fleet” ship being detained in the Baltic Sea on suspicion of committing an environmental crime.
The spill was detected on the morning of April 2 by a coast guard aircraft. According to Swedish officials, the slick stretched roughly 12 km in length. Suspicion soon fell on the tanker Flora 1, with prosecutors and the police launching a preliminary investigation on suspicion of an environmental crime.
According to the authorities in Stockholm, the tanker departed from a port in the Gulf of Finland — likely the Russian port of Ust-Luga — while its final destination remains unknown. Automatic identification system (AIS) data transmitted by the vessel show that on the night of April 2, it made a sharp turn toward Russian territorial waters near Kaliningrad, then returned to the international waters of the Baltic Sea. The signal stopped transmitting on April 3 at around 10:42 a.m. local time off the coast of Sweden, slightly southwest of the port of Ystad.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the vessel previously made voyages from Russian ports in the Baltic and Black Seas, periodically turning off its AIS tracker and conducting ship-to-ship (STS) oil transfers near Greece. Ukrainian intelligence also reports that the ship is affiliated with the Indian company Gatik Ship Management, one of the key operators of the so-called “shadow fleet” involved in transporting Russian oil under Western sanctions, and with Galena Ship Management. In 2023, Gatik and several related entities — including Gaurik Ship Management LLP, Caishan Ship Management, Plutos Ship Management, Geras Ship Management, Girik Ship Management, Orion Ship Management LLP, Nautilus Shipping, Ark Seakonnect Ship Management LLC, and Zidan Ship Management — participated in a scheme to reassign vessel management as part of an effort to circumvent sanctions.
Several countries have successively imposed sanctions on the tanker. On February 24, 2025, the United Kingdom implemented restrictions. In June 2025, Canada and Australia followed suit. From July 20, 2025, the European Union applied restrictions, citing the vessel’s involvement in transporting Russian oil and its use of high-risk shipping practices.
On August 12, 2025, Switzerland imposed sanctions, followed by New Zealand on October 30 and Ukraine on December 13. On February 21, 2026, Ukraine imposed personal sanctions against the vessel’s captain.
