Satellite photos call the Swedish Coast Guard into action: In the sea between Finland and Sweden, a carpet made of an unknown substance is floating on the water surface. The authorities initiate proceedings for environmental crimes.
An unknown substance has been discovered on the water surface in the sea between Sweden and Finland. As the Swedish Coast Guard announced at noon, the substance covers a huge area of 77 square kilometers - roughly the size of the southern Swedish city of Malmo. So it's still unclear what it is. However, the authorities determined that it was not mineral oil. There is currently no acute danger that the substance will end up on land.
The substance was discovered on Wednesday by satellites between Söderhamn and Härnosand in the Gulf of Bothnia, the northern part of the Baltic Sea. Photos showed a long carpet with the substance on the open sea. According to the Coast Guard, it extends into both the Swedish and Finnish economic zones. Preliminary investigations into environmental crimes have already been launched. Among other things, it is now being examined which ships were last in the area and what cargo they had on board.
The Coast Guard currently hypothesizes that the discharge originated from a cargo ship cleaning its cargo tanks at sea. "We are mapping shipping traffic in the area, conducting interrogations and collecting different types of information to get an idea of where the discharge came from and also to be able to find out to what extent it is illegal or not," said Jonatan Tholin, Head of the preliminary investigation at the Coast Guard of the Swedish news agency TT. "It may seem strange, but you have to release certain substances into the sea under certain conditions. "But the size of the release suggests that a crime has been committed," added the expert.
The Swedish Coast Guard estimates that the test results will arrive on Friday at the earliest. "We can't decide anything until we know if the substance is controllable or cleanable." Planes are currently in the air in the affected area to observe further developments.
