Further damage found on grounded K Line car carrier

The Swedish Coast Guard has found more damage on the grounded K Line car carrier  Makassar Highway following an inspection of the ship, increasing the complexity of salvaging the ship.

In addition to the damage found on the ship’s bow and propeller room earlier this week, the Swedish Coast Guard has found more damage including a hole in the bow thruster, water ingress in a couple of tanks and heavy metal damage to the bulbous bow. Additionally, the coast guard said there might be damage to the bottom of the ship’s hull which cannot be inspected for now.

The coast guard is now in talks with all relevant parties to find the best possible solution to salvage the ship without damage to the environment.

Currently there are 333,000 litres of fuel oil, 38,000 litres of lubricant oil and 34,000 litres of diesel in the ship’s tanks.

“Our role is to prevent oil leak to protect the marine environment. It is the shipping company’s responsibility to handle the salvage and it must be approved by the Transport Agency’s inspector who is on board the shipwreck, “said Roger Gebauer from Swedish Coast Guard.