Leaking K Line car carrier under tow
The Swedish Coast Guard has started to tow the K Line car carrier Makassar Highway, after the ship ran hard aground near the south coast of Sweden early last week.
The ship suffered several hull damages and leaked oil from one of the damaged tanks with thousands of litres of oil washing up on nearby shores. Currently the coast guard has sealed off part of the water area to accelerate the cleanup process.
A salvage company started the towing operations last night, which is expected to take 30 hours to complete the voyage.
“I see two risks of the towing, one is oil leakage during towing, and the other is that it might worsen the damages on ship’s hull. The risk of the ship sinking is low,” said Patrik Lindé, deputy on-site commander of the Swedish Coast Guard.