Since the ship Marco Polo went on to the Gulf of Hanö over a year ago, Sölvesborg Municipality has spent great resources on removing the thick oil from beaches and nature. Most of the oil is now gone, but traces of pollution are still emerging and can cause problems.
– We cannot clean down to the extent that it is completely unnoticed that this has happened, says Malin Fajersson, environmental inspector at the Environmental Association Blekinge West.
On October 22, 2023, the ship founded Marco Polo twice on the way between Trelleborg and Karlshamn. An error in the navigation system meant that officers and the captain believed the ship was in a different position.
A total of 60,000 liters of thick oil was released, which led to an extensive environmental disaster with dead seabirds and damaged marine mammals.
More work in March
Although the most urgent efforts are ready, the municipality continues to find oil lumps and stains.
– Somewhere in mid -March, we will intensify the work more and go through the stretches again, says Sara Stenbeck, decontamination leader at Sölvesborg Municipality.
Costs and continued checks
According to the municipality, the remediation efforts have cost approximately SEK 55 million, mainly funded by the Swedish Agency for Social Protection and Preparedness. The shipping company TT-line paid SEK 1.6 million to the County Administrative Board in Blekinge. Some places are already open to visitors, but the formal end date is decided by the Environmental Association Blekinge West. If more oil pops up afterwards, the municipality is still reappearing.
In the bird -rich islands nearby, influenced breeding sites have been cleaned, but more follow -up awaits.
“We probably only see the effects on a time horizon of five to ten years,” says remediation manager Andreas Jezeck.