It was on New Year’s Eve that the Coast Guard’s surveillance aircraft discovered how a ship outside Ystad was cleaning decks and washing cargo residues overboard.
– Getting a prosecution for dumping is a breakthrough. It is difficult to get prosecution, we basically have to catch them in the act in order to be able to reach the goal with this type of act, says Jonatan Tholin, preliminary investigation leader of the Coast Guard.
After the search of the ship and questioning in the harbor in Halmstad, environmental prosecutors decided in a penalty order on daily fines for the master for violating the environmental code by dumping.
The environmentally hazardous cargo residues consisted of zinc concentrate which, according to the Coast Guard, is classified as dangerous for the marine environment.
Jonatan Tholin is not aware of any previous case where someone could be prosecuted for dumping cargo residues at sea.
In the player: Watch as the ship dumps the hazardous waste into the sea