A sea cargo freighter was grounded on a sandbank just off the Swedish coast, only two days after the operation for salvage of the stricken car carrier Makassar Highway was completed.
Identified as Japanese built 2012-model BBC Lagos, registered in Antigua Barbuda is the general cargo vessel being reported on. The ship ran hard aground slightly south of Helsinborg harbor, Sweden, on August 3rd 2018.
Retrieved data and information from cargo monitoring services, the vessel was loaded with 5,000 tonnes of wheat. Soon it started sailing in a wrong direction, moving toward the coast and eventually crashing into a sandbank. The Swedish coast guard has issued a statement that the ship did not respond to any emergency calls as soon as the navigational error was detected.
Another official statement : “The coast guard has carried out a sobriety test of the master and has subsequently handed the case to the police. The master is suspected of serious seagoing and gross negligence in maritime traffic,” the coast guard informed.
The police investigation into the incident and master’s suspected involvement is underway.
Going on initial reports on the underwater inspection of the ship’s hull, no substantial damages have been detected.
Good news is no fuel spills were caused or pollution to the local waters. This is the latest update from the coast guard issued on August 5. The ship has been unloaded and the vessel has been moved to the port of Helsinborg. The salvage operation should be concluded soon without delay.
With the ship towed to the port, the owners will have due diligence to further inspect the hull and decide whether the ships condition will be to continue its journey or whether it will have to be repaired.
Recently another incident took place on Monday July 23rd. A Panama-flagged 139-meter ship was en route from Germany’s port of Cuxhaven sailing toward the Swedish port of Sodertalje, south of Stockholm. The cargo was loaded with approximately 1,325 vehicles and it ran aground in an archipelago north of Vastervik on the Baltic Sea.
Last week, the towing operation of the grounded car carrier started for Oskarshamn, according to the Swedish Coast Guard. The towing took place in a speed of two knots and is followed by Coast Guard units in case any oil is released.
