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Swedish oil-spill ferry towed to port without further leaks

Sweden's coast guard said the passenger ferry that ran aground last month causing a large oil spill had been safely towed to port.

Published: 2 November 2023 15:55 CET

Swedish oil-spill ferry towed to port without further leaks

Bosses from TT-line and the Swedish Coast Guard next to the ferry after it was towed to port. Photo: Ola Torkelsson/TT

The Marco Polo ferry, operated by TT-Line, ran aground south of the southern city of Karlshamn on October 22nd, with the vessel’s 75 passengers safely evacuated.

It stayed still for days but then drifted off due to strong winds on Sunday and once again ran aground, causing further oil spills.

“The passenger ferry Marco Polo has been towed into the Stilleryd harbour in Karlshamn (…) without complications or new oil spills,” the Swedish Coast Guard said in a statement on Thursday.

“The coast guard maintains a presence in Pukavik Bay in case previously leaked oil is found,” it continued.

It added that once the ship had been moored in port, the municipal rescue service would take over.

Sweden on Friday fined two crew members for “recklessness in maritime traffic”.

On Tuesday, the coast guard said some 50 cubic metres (50,000 litres or 13,000 gallons) of oil and oil waste had been collected.

Swedish authorities said last week it could take as long as a year to completely clean up the spill.

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Why did Sweden's emissions drop in 2023 – and what's in store for the future?

In 2023, the Scandinavian country’s emissions amounted to 44.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a drop of about one tonne from 2022, according to preliminary statistics, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement.

The two percent decrease was in line with a 1.6 percent drop announced by Statistics Sweden in late May.

The EPA said the 2023 figure represented a decrease of 38 percent from 1990.

The EPA attributed the year-on-year drop primarily to lower emissions from industry – in particular the cement, iron and steel industries, due to lower production as a result of Sweden’s economic recession – and the electric and district heating sector, due to lower electricity prices.

“Emissions have continued to decrease, not least in industry and electric and district heating, which form part of the EU’s emissions trading system,” Anna-Karin Nyström, the head of the EPA’s climate target division said.

“The pace has slowed compared to the year before, when above all domestic transport and (fuel-based) work machinery contributed to a sharp reduction.”

But in March, an independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing climate policy said the government’s plans would lead to short-term emissions increases in 2024 and knock it off-course from its 2030 reduction target.

The Swedish Climate Policy Council, said in the March report that “policy adopted in 2023 will increase emissions and does not lead towards the fulfilment of Sweden’s climate goals and EU commitments by 2030”.

The council said several measures, such as a reduced fuel tax, put climate ambitions at risk.

But it also lamented a lack of concrete measures in the government’s “climate policy action plan”, a roadmap that the government is required by law to present every four years.

Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari said she was “not particularly worried” about the review’s assessments.

“They are based on the government’s policy announcements during 2023, and there are several measures that have been added since then,” Pourmokhtari said.

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