The Russian ship that anchored off Höganäs on Saturday has been boarded by Swedish authorities and the police.
At 23:00 on Sunday, the message came that the ship may leave Swedish waters.
On Saturday afternoon it became known that the Russian ship “Adler” dropped anchor in Swedish waters. According to the crew, the ship’s engine has stopped.
An hour after midnight, the night before Sunday, the Swedish Customs, the coast guard and the police boarded the ship, the Swedish Customs confirms.
– When a ship enters Swedish waters like this, we have the right to check what they have on board, they have not submitted a customs declaration, says Martin Höglund, press secretary at the Swedish Customs Administration.
The National Task Force was also involved and secured the ship, according to information to SVT. Säpo must be involved in the case, according to the channel.
Säpo does not want to comment on whether it is involved.
– In general, we have close cooperation with many different authorities, but I do not go into what it looks like in individual cases, says Jonathan Svensson, press spokesperson at Säpo, to Expressen.
The police: It went smoothly
The inspection was still ongoing on Sunday morning. Martin Höglund does not go into what has possibly been found so far.
The delivery went smoothly, according to him.
– The crew was very accommodating, he says.
From the police’s side, they confirm that everything went smoothly.
– Our role has been to ensure that the control can be done safely. And yes, it went smoothly and safely, says police spokesperson Sara Andersson.
Sanctions against the shipping company
The shipping company that owns the vessel, M Leasing LLC, has sanctions directed at it by both the EU and the US. The company is accused of transporting ammunition used in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Precisely “Adler” is singled out for having shipped Russian robots to China in 2018, according to information from Ukraine’s intelligence service.
The ship left Saint Petersburg on 15 December. The final destination is unknown.
May leave Swedish water
At 11 p.m., the announcement came that the prosecutor will not initiate a preliminary investigation into suspected violations of sanctions regarding the ship, TT reports.
The ship can therefore leave Swedish waters.
