Police make arrests after deadly Baltic Sea collision
December 13, 2021
Two cargo ships collided, resulting in at least one death, on Monday between the southern Swedish city of Ystad and the Danish island of Bornholm.
Swedish authorities said two crew members from the British vessel Scot Carrier were being held by police as part of a criminal investigation.
Probe into drunkenness
An initial probe into negligence was confirmed to have been widened on Monday afternoon.
The country's prosecution service said an investigation into "aggravated drunkenness at sea," "gross negligence in sea traffic," and "gross causing of death by negligence" had been opened.
Prosecutors said one of those arrested was a British citizen born in 1991 and the other a Croatian citizen born in 1965.
Two Danish crew members aboard the smaller boat were initially reported to be missing after the incident, which occurred in Swedish territorial waters. The Swedish Maritime Administration later said in a statement one crew member had been found dead after a search of the vessel, which was towed closer to the coast.
Authorities identified the smaller vessel as the Danish-flagged Karin Hoej.
What happened to the ships?
The 55-meter Karin Hoej capsized after the collision and towed towards shore as part of the rescue effort. The 90-meter British-registered Scot Carrier was said not to be in distress and to have helped with the initial search.
The maritime administration said it received a pre-dawn alarm that the ships had collided.
The Scot Carrier had been traveling to Montrose in Scotland from Salacgriva, Latvia. The Karin Hoej was en route to Nykobing Falster in southern Denmark from Sodertalje in Sweden at the time of the accident.
By mid-Monday, Swedish tabloid Expressen reported the search was called off as water temperatures were too cold to survive in.
The water where the crash occurred is around four to six degrees Centigrade (39 to 43 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Danish Meteorological Institute.
ar,rc/msh (AP, Reuters)