Accidents
Coast Guard: Risk of oil spill from Baltic Sea ferry increases
Swedish Coast Guard forces are working to collect oil. According to authorities, a lot of oil has leaked from a passenger ferry that ran aground off the southern Swedish Baltic Sea coast. photo
© —/Coast Guard Sweden/dpa
A passenger ferry runs aground off the southern Swedish Baltic Sea coast. How this could have happened is still being investigated. But there is a more pressing problem: leaking oil.
The emergency services off the southern Swedish Baltic Sea coast continue to struggle to limit environmental damage caused by oil from a passenger ferry that ran aground. It is estimated that there are still 300,000 liters of oil in the tanks of the “Marco Polo”, which is still aground, said the Swedish company Coast Guard on Friday with. The more time passes, the greater the risk that the damage to the ferry will worsen and lead to a new oil leak, the authority warned. A plan for the rescue is not yet ready.
The “Marco Polo” ran aground on Sunday with around 70 people on board on the way between the southern Swedish cities of Trelleborg and Karlshamn. The passengers and some of the crew were able to leave the ship. Environmental damage from the incident is already visible in the Blekinge region. The spilled oil is now no longer visible on the surface of the water, making it more difficult to catch it before it reaches land. According to its own information, the coast guard has so far been able to collect a total of 23,000 liters of oil waste.
At the same time, investigations into the exact nature of the incident are underway. According to the coast guard, two crew members of the “Marco Polo” are suspected of having acted negligently.