2 Missing After Reported Freight Ship Collision Off Southern Sweden

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Two freight ships collided in the Baltic Sea off southern Sweden Monday, with at least two people reported missing. One of the vessels capsized and will be towed to a Swedish port.

At least 11 vessels, one airplane and one helicopter took part in the search for the missing crewmembers, but the Swedish Maritime Administration said later Monday it had “ended its search operation at sea for the two missing persons in the water” and that the pair had not been found.

The capsized vessel is being towed closer to land where divers from the Swedish Armed Forces and the Coast Guard, among others, will search it.

The towing had begun but “we have no idea when the work can be completed,” the agency said in a statement. Once near land, police in Sweden will take over the case.

The Administration said it received a pre-dawn alarm that two cargo ships had collided south of Ystad in Sweden, close to the Danish island of Bornholm. The authority identified the ships as Karin Hoej of Denmark and the British ship Scot Carrier. The Danish ship capsized fully and was floating upside down.

The cause of the accident is still unclear, Swedish Maritime Administration said.

Sweden’s TV4 had reported that oil has started to flow into the water. However, the Swedish Coast Guard said it was carrying out an environmental rescue operation “to prevent oil or other harmful substances from being released into the sea” and there were currently no ongoing oil spills.

According to the site marinetraffic, Scot Carrier was en route from Salacgriva in Latvia to Montrose in Scotland while Karin Hoej had left Sodertalje in Sweden for Nykoebing Falster in Denmark.

There was poor visibility caused by fog in the area.