A Panamanian-registered freighter sailing from Russia was detained early on Sunday after discharging coal residue into the sea off Sweden’s southern coast, the Swedish coastguard reported.
The captain of the Hui Yuan had admitted the offence and paid a deposit against a fine to be imposed, the coastguard said. The bulk carrier has been released and can leave Sweden.
Coastguard officials acting on instruction from prosecutors earlier boarded the Hui Yuan off the port of Ystad.
On overflying the Baltic Sea on Saturday, a coastguard plane had noticed that the bulk carrier was discharging coal residue into the water, the report said.
“This is a violation of the Environment Code,” it said.
A preliminary investigation was launched. The coastguard said that the 225-metre freighter was bound for Las Palmas in Spain.
Sweden’s TT news agency reported that the coastguard had now boarded four vessels since last month, two of them off the south coast.
On April 3, the coastguard searched a tanker thought to be part of the shadow fleet that Moscow uses to evade Western sanctions on Russian oil exports imposed during the course of the Ukraine war.
The tankers are believed to pose a serious environmental risk.