Late on Wednesday evening, the bulk carrier Ali Aykin was refloated after having been aground since 25 May. No oil reached the water during the salvage and transport to port. In the meantime, the Swedish Coast Guard is busy with a second grounding in the same area and a sunken tugboat.
During the past week, the Swedish Coast Guard has handled three major operations in parallel: the grounded vessel Ali Aykin off Klagshamn, the grounded vessel Meshka off Landskrona and a wrecked tugboat in northern Sweden, off Piteå. The fact that three major operations coincide in time is unusual, states the Coast Guard adding that this places high demands on the organisation’s preparedness, endurance and management ability.
Also read: Salvage of grounded bulk carrier in Sweden started
Ali Aykin brought to Malmö
Just after one o’clock in the morning on Thursday, the Ali Aykin moored in Malmö, where it was able to make its way under its own power, assisted by tugs. Three Swedish Coast Guard vessels supervised the salvage operation and the journey to port, which took two hours in good conditions.
‘The salvage is a success and the result of close and intensive co-operation between several authorities and private actors,’ says Jimmie Broth, rescue leader at the Swedish Coast Guard. ‘For the Coast Guard, it means that an environmental threat in Öresund (the Sound) has been eliminated with joint forces.’
With the ship safely in harbour, the Coast Guard concludes its rescue service operation. The preliminary investigation into gross negligence in maritime traffic, led by prosecutors, is still ongoing. One person in the crew has been notified of suspicion and is in custody.
Also read: Bulk carrier grounds in Sweden, drunkenness suspected
Second grounding
The Coast Guard is continuing to work intensively to prevent an oil spill from another vessel, Meshka, which ran aground in the Sound, off Landskrona on Saturday morning, 31 May. The Meshka is a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship. The situation is complex, but under control and measures are being taken to minimise the risk of environmental impact. It is as yet unclear why the vessel grounded.
There are approximately 938,000 litres of oil in fuel and lubricating oil tanks on board the Meshka. So far, no leaks have been reported. The Swedish Coast Guard has vessels on site with oil spill response capabilities.
Late Saturday night, the hull was inspected by Coast Guard divers. They could not see any leaks. The majority of the hull is on the bottom, which is mostly sand.
Negligence and salvage plan being developed
In this case, a person has also been charged with negligence in maritime traffic. The Coast Guard has opened a preliminary investigation into the lack of good seamanship surrounding the grounding. There are no suspicions of drunkenness at sea. The investigation has now been handed over to the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
Before the ship can be freed from the ground, the shipping company needs to develop a salvage plan that must then be approved by the Swedish Coast Guard and the Swedish Transport Agency. Salvage personnel are on board the ship, but how long it will take to develop a salvage plan is unknown at this moment.
Tug sinks, one missing person
Early on Sunday, June 1, an alarm was received from the tugboat Ron Jeremy. The tugboat was off Piteå and was sinking when it was towing a barge with timber behind it. There were four people on board the boat. The Swedish Coast Guard received the alarm from the Swedish Maritime Administration’s JRCC just after 05:00, and the Coast Guard’s vessel KBV 306 was alerted and headed towards the incident while other boats, a helicopter and airplane also assisted.
The sinking resulted in one missing person. At a later stage, the sea rescue operation transitioned to an environmental operation to prevent and contain an oil spill from the tugboat.
‘One person was missing and initially the Coast Guard, together with the Swedish Maritime Rescue Society and the Swedish Maritime Administration, participated in an extensive search operation using aircraft and ships. After a few hours, the JRCC ended the search operation without finding the person,’ says Kalle Isaksson, rescue leader at the Coast Guard.
Also read: Bulk carrier aground in Sweden is taking on water
Oil detected
When the life-saving operation was completed, the Coast Guard began an environmental rescue operation as the boat was leaking diesel from the tanks. Divers and crew worked on preparedness and to limit the spill. There are approximately 5000 liters of diesel on board the wreck, of which a smaller amount has leaked into the water. There is currently no indication that the oil will reach land.
Isaksson: ‘The aircraft saw small streaks of oil, not much, but you could see that oil had leaked from the tugboat. The Coast Guard and the Police are having a joint diving operation to seal the vent to the fuel tanks. A good and effective collaboration that prevents a major spill.’
Divers to seal hull
The tugboat has been located at a depth of almost 40 metres. Divers from the Coast Guard and Police are working together to seal the parts of the ship where diesel is leaking and at the same time search for the crew member who is still missing. The Coast Guard vessel KBV 181 is involved in this operation.
Work at the site is being hampered by the fact that the barge with timber still appears to be stuck to the tugboat, combined with bad weather on Monday. So far, the missing person has not been found.
The police are now conducting a criminal investigation and a workplace accident investigation into what caused the accident.
Picture (top): The bulk carrier Ali Aykin in the port of Malmö (photo by the Swedish Coast Guard).
