MARCO POLO

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Traces of oil pollution are still appearing and could cause problems

Since the 'Marco Polo' ran aground in Hanö Bay on Oct 22, 2024,, the municipality of Sölvesborg has invested significant resources in removing the heavy oil from beaches and nature. Most of the oil is now gone, but traces of pollution are still appearing and could cause problems. A total of 60tons of heavy oil were spilled, which led to a major environmental disaster with dead seabirds and injured marine mammals. Despite the fact that the most urgent efforts are complete, the Sölvesborg municipality continues to find oil lumps and stains. In mid-March, it will intensify the work more and go through the stretches once more. The clean-up effort has cost approximately SEK 55 million, mainly financed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. The shipping company TT-Line paid SEK 1.6 million to the County Administrative Board in Blekinge. Some areas are already open to visitors, but the formal end date is decided by the Blekinge West Environmental Association. If more oil is found afterwards, the municipality will still move out again. On the islands nearby, stained nesting sites have been cleaned, but more follow-up is expected with a time horizon of five to ten years.

TT Line responds on Accident Investigation Report

The shipping company TT Line has responded to the Swedish Maritime Accident Investigation Board's criticism and expressed its deep regret over the oil disaster. The report had showed that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the crew and the ship's equipment. The TT-line has now provided its statement on the criticism and mentioned, among other things, that it has updated its safety management system (SMS) based on its thorough analysis of the incident and will review and analyze the SHK report carefully with a focus on further improving the SMS by implementing appropriate conclusions.

Investigation report points at lack of safety culture

On Feb 17, 2025, the investigation report by the Swedish Maritime Accident Investigation Board into the grounding of the 'Marco Polo' off Blekinge, when the ferry approached Stillerydshamnen in Karlshamn on Oct 22, 2023, was published. It pointed to a lack of safety cultur as one of the reasons. The Swedish authorities' handling of the was is also criticized. The GPS equipment was broken and the helmsman thought he was out on the open sea off Hanö. In fact, the voyage took place inside Hanö and the ship ran aground twice with ten-minute intervals - but the personnel on board did not understand this. Approximately 60 tons oil leaked out, the beaches along Listerlandet in Blekinge were soiled and birds were injured. A contributing cause of the accident was that the bridge crew relied solely on one navigation method. This deviates from the international principles which state that all available navigation aids should be used. fter the first grounding, personnel in the engine room feared that the ship had collided with something, but this was not communicated to the personnel on the bridge. The personnel should have made a more thorough analysis of the fault alarm and thus received a correct situational picture earlier. Then perhaps the second grounding could have been avoided and the authorities could have been alerted earlier. The Swedish Accident Investigation Board saw the failure to detect various deviations as a sign of deficiencies in the safety culture. In addition, the crew had too little training on both the navigation system and the safety organization system. The personnel’s contact lines to the shipping company’s personnel ashore also broke down during the grounding, which may also have delayed the alert to the Swedish authorities. The Swedish authorities' handling of the accident may also have contributed to the worsening of the consequences. The Swedish Maritime Accident Investigation Board pointed to shortcomings in communication and cooperation between, for example, the Coast Guard and municipal rescue services. The sharing of information about the oil spill and the accident site was made more difficult due to what the Swedish Maritime Accident Investigation Board called "legal challenges". The government is therefore urged to appoint an inquiry into how society's ability to handle major ship accidents can be strengthened.