Ships cleaned their tanks in the discharge area

On Wednesday, the Coast Guard was alerted to a discharge in the Bothnian Sea.

The emissions were extensive - 77 square kilometers, an area as large as Malmö.

- This is one of the largest emissions we have seen of a harmful substance that is not mineral oil, says preliminary investigation leader Jonatan Tholin.

According to an expert that SVT spoke to, the release can have major consequences for both animal and plant life.

Cleaned eight tanks

One theory that is being investigated is that the discharge comes from a ship that delivered tall oil in Piteå and then cleaned its tanks out at sea.

SVT has mapped the vessel traffic in the area during the current time period - and found two tanker vessels that operated in Piteå at the time before the discharge.

Only one of them - the ship Celius Monaco - was in the area at the time of the release.

In an interview with SVT, the shipping company Celsius Shipping says that the ship cleaned its tanks in the Bothnian Sea on June 7, a day before the release was seen on satellite images.

- We did a complete emptying and cleaning in Piteå harbor and then, when we were at a sufficient distance from land, a second cleaning of eight tanks was done.

It was completely according to all rules and protocols, says the company's chairman of the board Jeppe Jensen.

"Very unlikely"

According to Jensen, cleaning is part of the standard procedure and completely legal.

The tanks must be cleaned so as not to damage future loads.

- The last residues are rinsed out, but these are small volumes.

That it would have caused such a large emission sounds very unlikely.

The captain of Celsius Monaco was contacted by the Coast Guard already on Wednesday last week.

Since then, the shipping company has not been contacted by the investigators, says Jeppe Jensen.

- We have provided them with all the information they may need.

We are very careful to follow the rules that exist.

If we have done something wrong, we will of course investigate it, but I do not see that we have done it.

"Very comprehensive"

The Coast Guard does not want to deny or confirm the information about the ship in question - but says that the investigation has been limited to a few.

According to preliminary investigation leader Jonatan Tholin, suspicions of environmental crime remain.

At the end of the week, answers to samples taken by the Coast Guard are expected.

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