Updated 07.38 | Published 07.18
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The grounded ferry Marco Polo will be salvaged on Wednesday, starting in the early morning, the Coast Guard states.
The salvage entails new risks for further oil spills.
The ship, which is to be taken to Stillerydshamnen in Karlshamn, has caused an extensive oil spill outside Blekinge.
The passenger ferry TT-Line Marco Polo has run aground a total of three times – first twice in close succession on October 22 and then a third time on Sunday, when the ferry broke loose from the ground and drifted a few hundred meters before running aground again. The result was an even bigger oil leak.
The oil has reached land in the municipalities of Sölvesborg and Karlshamn, and a large number of birds have been injured when their plumage was stuck together by oil.
So far, the total amount of oil taken up is estimated to be around 50 cubic meters.
At the same time as clean-up work is underway, however, other TT-Line ships are passing through the affected area in Pukavik Bay, despite a navigational warning being issued, BLT reports.
The warning applies to an area out to sea, from Listershuvud in Sölvesborg to Sternö in Karlshamn, but there are no prohibitions to pass.
The ship Marco Polo is not judged to be leaking oil on Wednesday morning, but three tanks on board are damaged.
FACTS The Marco Polo oil spill
The passenger ferry TT-Line Marco Polo, which is flagged in Cyprus, was on its way from Trelleborg to Karlshamn and then continued to Klaipeda in Lithuania.
On Sunday, October 22, the ship ran aground. The alarm came at 6.25am.
In Hanö Bay, the ship had first run aground and started leaking oil.
It then continued for another three nautical miles, which corresponds to five to six kilometers, before it ran onto new ground and got stuck.
Already on the same day, the oil reached land at Hörvik in Sölvesborg municipality. Since then, cleanup work has been ongoing along the coast and at sea.
On Sunday 29 October, the ship slipped off the ground in the afternoon but soon became stuck on another, and another oil spill was detected.
An investigation has shown that a GPS on board was broken and that the crew relied solely on it in the fog. Two crewmen have been sentenced to 50 daily fines each for negligence in maritime traffic.
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