An oil tanker that has been anchored off Gotland for several months is causing concern among the authorities.
SVT's investigation shows that the ship daily pumps fuel to Russia's shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea.
On the night of March 24, an oil tanker from the Russian Baltic Sea port of Primorsk berths next to the Cyprus-registered oil tanker Zircone, just outside Sweden's territorial border, off Gotland.
Hoses are then connected between the ships, out at sea, to pump fuel from one ship to the other.
Serving the Shadow Fleet
SVT has reviewed the ship's 56 refueling operations over the past two months using open data on ship movements.
The majority of all refuelings, 52, involve ships bound for or from Russia. The majority of refuelings concern ships that belong to Russia's so-called shadow fleet, older ships that often lack insurance.
- This is a ticking environmental bomb, says Henrik Wachtmeister, energy researcher at Uppsala University and the Institute for Foreign Policy.
Zircone's operations outside Gotland are run by the Latvian company Fastbunkering, which is an established player in the bunker market, but which, according to industry media, has chosen a different path than its competitors: They do not say no to ships in the Russian oil trade.
The operations outside Gotland began after Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and are legal - but worry Swedish authorities. According to SVT's information, the navy has reviewed the operation and the Coast Guard states that they keep a daily eye on the ship, which is said to have a Russian crew on board.
Permission granted
During the past year, the Coast Guard started a preliminary investigation into environmental crimes, which took aim at the fact that the company lacked permission from the Swedish Transport Agency. The investigation has now been closed.
- I have made the assessment that it is not worth requesting legal assistance from Latvia because it is not expected to lead to a higher penalty than a fine, says prosecutor Jennie Nordin.
After the investigation against Fastbunkering, the company began to apply for permission from the Swedish Transport Agency, which has so far granted permission to ship millions of liters of fuel to Zircone outside Gotland.
SVT has applied for Fast Bunkering, see CEO Alexey Volkov's response below.
The company: We refuel the ships for safety reasons
Fastbunkering CEO Alexey Volkov has not been able to be reached by phone, but in an email to SVT he writes that the company chose Gotland because it is one of the areas that their customers asked them to deliver from. Regarding the safety of the refueling operations at sea, he states: “It is a complex issue, but I can assure you that our bunker barges are fully licensed and our crew are trained to handle any situation that may arise at sea.”
Regarding the company's choice to assist ships trading in sanctioned goods from Russia, he points out that the EU sanctions allow a certain outflow of oil from Russia and that there is therefore a need for bunkering companies.
"Bunkering these ships is a matter of safety at sea and avoiding any kind of risk of environmental damage."