Swedish cargo ship sinks in storm off Oland Island

Helsinki, 1 November (HELCOM) – A Swedish cargo ship capsized and sunk in a storm off the east coast of Oland Island on Wednesday, the Swedish Coast Guard officials told HELCOM. 13 people of the 14 member crew were lifted from the 5 meter waves by rescue helicopters. One crew member is missing.

The 155 meter-long roll-on, roll-off vessel Finnbirch with a dead weight of 8,500 tonnes was on its way from Helsinki, Finland, to Aarhus, Denmark, when it was caught by a heavy storm between the Swedish islands of Gotland and Oland.

According to the Swedish Coast Guard officials, there were 250 tonnes of heavy oil and 10 tonnes of machine oil aboard the ship. The ship was operated by the Helsinki-based company Finnlines PLS.

Note to Editors: 

The Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between the countries bordering the sea - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and also the European Community.  

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi