Several illegal oil discharges detected in the Baltic Sea

Swedish Coast Guard detected six possible oil spills in the Baltic Sea during satellite surveillance on 28 July.

According to the data relayed to HELCOM by the Swedish Coast Guard, four of the slicks were located along the shores of Sweden and one near Poland. Three of them are considered of a large scale: 6,28 sq km, 4,66 sq km and 2,79 sq km. The other two are smaller: 0,96 sq km and 0,19 sq km.

One small oil spill was detected near the coast of Russian Kaliningrad region. According to Russian authorities, its size is 0,24 sq km.

The source of illegal oil discharges is unknown. The Swedish Coast Guard presumes the slicks came from ships. Due to heavy ship traffic in the area no suspects have been identified so far.

Contacts

HELCOM Secretariat

Mr Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel: +358 9 6220 2235
Fax: +358 9 6220 2239