Sweden averts oil pollution after ship grounding

The biggest environmental threat has been averted, following grounding of the cargo vessel off Sweden, as the Swedish Coast Guard has completed extraction of the diesel from the vessel, Tuesday early morning.

The Coast Guard said it can therefore conduct salvage operations to remove the vessel from the scene, but these cannot start before September 27.

    “Now there is no longer a danger of oil coming into the sea. We therefore end the rescue effort now, we estimate that the ship is still due to the current situation,” says Coast Guard’s rescue leader Claes Ringqvist.

It was on the early hours of September 23 that the 3,041 dwt cargo ship grounded off the coast of Oskarshamn, carrying 44,000 liters of diesel oil and was reported as taking on water due to hull damage. Although 28,000 liters were located near the damaged area of the vessel, there has been no sign of oil spill, according to the authorities.

Following preliminary investigations, the ship’s captain and superintendent were arrested and suspected of negligence.