A British cargo ship had two crew members who were high on drugs and alcohol. They crashed into a Danish boat off the coast in Sweden killing at least one person, as the UK owner admitted.
Scot Carrier, a 300ft UK-flagged vessel en route from Latvia to Scotland, hit 180ft Danish vessel Karin Hoej around 3.30am on Monday in a 25 mile-wide stretch of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm.
According to the Swedish maritime rescue chief, The Karin sank ‘almost instantly’. Rescuers reported hearing screams in the water at 4.45 am. After seven hours of searching, no trace of the men could be found. Divers discovered one body in the ship’s interior. Both men are presumed to have died.
Scotline said late Monday that all Scot Carrier crew members were subject to drug and alcohol testing. However, two of them exceeded the legal limit. It stated that it had a stringent drug and alcohol policy and would not tolerate any breach.
The coast guard stated that prosecutors had opened an investigation into the alleged ‘criminal negligence. This was quickly expanded to include the alleged drunkenness of ‘one’ or more members of the Scots crew who tested positive for alcohol.
Two men – a 30-year-old Briton and a 56-year-old Croatian – have since been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence at sea, severe marine intoxication and involuntary homicide.
Rescuers said the Scot’s crew admitted they ‘may have hit something’ before trying to sail away from the scene and had to be stopped from leaving, Swedish news outlet Expressen reported. The ship tracking data indicates that the Scot was able to sail off the site of the crash, but then turned back and came to an abrupt halt.
MailOnline has reached out to Scotline for more information.
Scot Carrier’s crew of two British sailors were intoxicated when the British ship crashed into a Danish cargo vessel. The incident occurred off the Swedish coast, and the UK ship owner has since admitted that at least one of them was killed. It happened in the wee hours of Monday
According to the Swedish coast guard, the British ship crashed into the small Danish boat Karin Hoe (180ft). According to the Swedish maritime rescue agency’s head, the Karin capsized “almost instantly”. Rescuers reported hearing screams in the water. Two people were being sought by rescuers. One of them was discovered dead inside the ship’s shell. One was found dead in the ship’s hull. The other is believed to be deceased
The Danish container ship, the Karin Hoej, capsized (bottom of the hull pictured left in the distance) in the Baltic Sea after colliding with British-flagged vessel Scot Carrier (right) around 3.30am on Monday
One of the crew members from Denmark was found dead inside the Karin’s wreckage (pictured) and the rest were presumed to be deceased after unsuccessful search attempts.
Scot Carrier was a 300ft UK flagged vessel that traveled from Latvia to Scotland. It collided with a Danish ship measuring 180 feet in the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Denmark. Pictured: Damages to the bow of the British cargo ship
The Scot, currently moored off the coast of Ystad in south Sweden’s small city, is under guard
The Karin, which was close to the crash site in Sweden, has been pulled to Sandhammaren. There it has been anchor so divers can go inside.
Under guard, the Scot – which is registered in Inverness – can be seen moored off the coast at Ystad in south Sweden. Divers have been searching the Karin wreck, which has now been towable to Sandhammaren.
Several people have also been ‘detained’ aboard the Scot, Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported Monday. Although it is not clear how many were aboard at the time, coast guards claim that none of them are missing.
Johan Nilsson is the head of Sweden’s maritime rescue agency. He said that the Scot appeared to have struck the Karin at “high speed”, which caused the ship to flip over and plunge its crew into frigid waters.
According to him, there were ‘clear indications’ that the British vessel had struck the Danish ship. These include scratch marks on the keel (the underside of the boat that keeps the boat upright in the water)
“The bigger boat continued driving straight across. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, it has been very quick.
He stated that he was “hoping for miracles” for the Danish sailors. However, some speculated that perhaps they were still alive in an air bubble inside the Karin’s Karin’s vessel. One of the two were later discovered dead and one was still missing.
Lars Blohm from the Sea and Air Rescue Center stated that it is virtually impossible for a person to survive so long in cold water. The temperature of the sea was 4C (39F) while the air was 5C (91.1F) at the time.
This would make the survival rate of an stranded person around 90 minutes according to US Search and Rescue Task Force guides.
Weather forecasters stated that the weather was foggy but calm during the crash.
Rederiet Hoj managing director, Soren Hoj added, “I can confirm that an accident occurred, but I don’t know the circumstances.”
He said, “We are deeply disturbed,” and confirmed that both crewmen were citizens of Denmark.
Prosecutors will investigate whether or not the British crew was drunk when the ship crashed. After being stopped, a number of people tested positive for alcohol. Since then, the UK vessel owner has admitted two of its crew were above the legal limit for alcohol and drugs.
After the collision of the Danish cargo ship Karin Hoej with the British vessel Scot Carrier, a rescue boat navigates past the wreckage. It happened in the Baltic Sea between Ystad & Bornholm on Monday 13 December.
Three helicopters, six civilian lifeboats, and three nearby rescue vessels spent hours searching the sea to find survivors. They heard’screams’ in the water but could not locate anyone.
Rescuers claimed that no one could have survived the freezing waters and they called it quits with an investigation into criminality.
The Swedish Coast Guard will investigate the accident and give them jurisdiction.
A country’s shoreline is generally 12 nautical miles away from territorial waters. It appears that Monday’s accident occurred approximately 20 miles from sea, according to ship tracking data.
Danish prosecutors could take the case if it turns out that the accident occurred in international waters. The victims of the crash are Danes. Bornholm, a Danish island is close by the crash site.
The Scot Carrier, almost 300ft long and built in 2018, was en route from Salacgriva in northern Latvia to Montrose in Scotland when the accident happened.
Karin Hoej, 180ft long and built in 1977, was on its way from Sodertalje, just south of the Swedish capital Stockholm, to Nykobing Falster in southern Denmark.
Both vessels were sailing in the same direction – east to west – through the 25-mile gap between Sweden’s southern tip and Bornholm island when the crash happened.
The Karin wasn’t carrying any cargo when the accident occurred.
The British-flagged Scot Carrier, a 300ft container ship built in 2018, was en route from Latvia to Scotland when it crashed around 3.30am (file image)
Danish-flagged Karin Hoej, a 180ft vessel built in 1977, was sailing from Sweden to Denmark in the same direction as the Carrier when they collided – causing the Karin to capsize (file)