Sweden to Crack Down on Russia’s Shadow Fleet in the Baltic Sea Starting July

Sweden will significantly tighten control over foreign vessels passing through its maritime domain as part of a broader effort to counter Russia’s expanding shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea. The new regulation, set to take effect on July 1, empowers Swedish authorities to collect critical insurance data from vessels even if they do not dock at Swedish ports.

The Gaze reports on this with reference to Sweden Herald.

The move is aimed at increasing pressure on a growing network of opaque and often uninsured ships used by Russia to circumvent Western sanctions, particularly for transporting oil, gas, and looted Ukrainian grain.

Under the regulation, the Swedish Coast Guard and the Swedish Maritime Administration will be allowed to gather insurance-related data from all foreign vessels operating within Sweden’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. Until now, such information was typically required only from ships entering Swedish ports.

“We believe this will have both a deterrent effect on vessels associated with Russia’s shadow fleet and provide a foundation for further action, including sanctions against additional ships,” said Sweden’s Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson underscored the broader security rationale behind the new measure. “We are seeing an increasing number of destabilizing incidents in the Baltic Sea,” he said. “This requires more than optimism, it demands readiness.”

He added that the data gathered through these new mechanisms will be shared with allies and could serve as the basis for expanding collective sanctions efforts targeting the shadow fleet.

As The Gaze reported earlier, the European Union’s 17th package of sanctions against Russia, adopted on May 20, which included measures against nearly 200 vessels linked to shadow fleet operations.