Swedish authorities boarded a Panama-flagged vessel on Sunday, suspecting it of an environmental offence over flushing coal residues into the Baltic Sea, the Swedish coast guard said. The Panama-registered bulk carrier Hui Yuan had been on its way from Russia to Las Palmas in Spain when it was boarded off the southern port of Ystad, the coast guard said in a statement.
The 225-metre-long vessel had been discovered flushing coal residues into the Baltic Sea on Saturday during a coast guard aircraft monitoring mission in a violation of the Nordic country's Environmental Code.
The vessel is currently suspected of an environmental offence and a preliminary investigation had been launched, the statement said.
"The shipping industry should know that Swedish authorities are working close together to maintain order at sea," said Daniel Stenling, deputy head of the coast guard's operations department.
"If there is a suspicious vessel, we do intervene, based on the prevailing conditions," he added.
