Operations to clean up diesel that leaked from a ferry that ran aground last Sunday in the south of Sweden, in the Baltic Sea, could take up to a year, local authorities announced Thursday.
“The clean-up work is expected to be extensive and last a long time, which will require considerable human and financial resources,” said the municipality of Sölvesborg (south), one of the most affected municipalities, in a press release.
These operations “could take up to a year,” said the municipality’s crisis operations coordinator, Anders Borgman, during a press conference, quoted by the TT news agency.
The ferry Marco Polo of the company TT-Line ran aground south of Karlshamn (southern Sweden) on Sunday morning. Its 75 passengers were quickly evacuated, but at the same time it lost its diesel, which reached the coast in the evening.
The ship is still stranded and continues to lose its diesel, according to the coast guard, who does not know how much fuel has escaped into the sea.
Operations to recover this ferry cannot begin for several days, they said in a press release.
At the beginning of the week, the coast guard indicated that the slick extended over five kilometers, but the fuel has since no longer been visible on the surface, because it has descended to the bottom.
An investigation into violations of maritime legislation has been opened and two members of the crew are targeted by these investigations, they specified. No details were given about their identity or nationality.