The ferry Marco Polo has run aground, the Swedish Maritime Administration reports.
”"It's about half a nautical mile from where it was originally located," says press spokesperson Johan Wahlström.
The wind in Hanö Bay increased on Sunday. This has caused the ship Marco Polo, which has been aground in the area since October 22, to break free from the ground it was originally on and drift about 100 meters out into deeper water, according to the Swedish Maritime Administration.
The ship then ran aground.
Earlier in the day, parts of the crew began to be evacuated due to safety reasons.
17 people have been evacuated from the Marco Polo with the help of the Coast Guard vessel. After that, the commander has made the decision not to evacuate any more but to keep the remaining ones. According to the information we have, there are 21 people left on board, says Johan Wahlström.
There were previous reports that the ship was at risk of listing when it began to drift, but this was not true according to the Swedish Maritime Administration.
On Saturday, work began on pumping out the oil remaining in the damaged tank aboard Marco Polo, the shipping company TT-Line writes in a press release.
The plan has since been to empty 300,000 liters of oil from undamaged tanks before the ship is salvaged next week. It is unclear whether and how the latest developments will affect those plans and pose a risk of further spills.
”"We have no information about the oil or whether there is any increased risk of emissions as it stands now," says Wahlström.
It was last Sunday, October 22, that the passenger ferry ran aground in Hanö Bay in Blekinge on its way from Trelleborg to Karlshamn.
Double groundings led to extensive oil spills that reached the coastal strip inland from the accident site on the same day. Extensive cleanup work has been underway in the area since then.
So far, over 25,000 liters of oil have been recovered by the Coast Guard in collaboration with the municipality and county administrative board and with support from the Home Guard.
Source:TT-Aftonbladet.se
