Swedish authorities have seized the 96m cargo ship Caffa and detained one crewmember after a boarding off Trelleborg on Friday amid suspicions the vessel was stateless and carrying stolen Ukrainian grain. The coast guard said armed police boarded from a helicopter and a high‑speed boat (see video below) after tracking the ship for some time under the suspicion it was sailing under a false Guinean flag.

Officials say the 1997‑built vessel – which the coast guard and prosecutors assert is on Ukraine’s sanctions list – last sailed from Casablanca toward St Petersburg and reportedly changed its flag from Russian to Guinean in 2025. Equasis lists the registry as false. The Russian embassy in Stockholm said 10 of the 11 crew are Russian nationals.

“Findings that have been made have led to a crewmember being detained and brought ashore,” the coast guard said, adding the person is suspected of violating the maritime code and ship safety laws and of using a forged document – “an aggravated crime.” Daniel Stenling, deputy chief of operations at the coast guard, warned the ship’s deficiencies posed “a threat to maritime safety and maritime traffic, our shipping lanes and ports, and, not least, to the environment.”

Swedish authorities reported the Caffa had its classification withdrawn in June 2025 and that a Turkish port state inspection in April 2025 found 11 deficiencies from working conditions to propulsion and navigation safety. Kyiv alleges the vessel loaded grain in Sevastopol, Crimea in July 2025 – cargo Ukraine considers stolen from occupied territory.

Sweden’s Transport Agency has opened a port state inspection and will assess whether to detain the ship. The prosecution authority has taken over the preliminary investigation, which is continuing at sea. The coast guard said the inquiry could take several days and warned fines or criminal charges could follow depending on findings. In recent weeks, a number of emboldened European states have pursued and detained shadow vessels.