In heavy winds the 'Makassar Highway' unexpectedly floated off the rocks in the night of July 28
In heavy winds the 'Makassar Highway' unexpectedly floated off the rocks in the night of July 28. The ship was now flowing and was anchored, but large amounts of fuel oil have spilled from the ship. Extensive environmental efforts were under way. The amount of oil which escaped was unknown, but in the evening of June 29, the Swedish authorities had collected 7,000 liters. The authorities warned the population not to come into contact with the oil and were doing everything to prevent further oil from coming ashore. All available equipment for combating oil pollution was currently on its way to the scene. There was no indication yet of how the pollution has affected the wildlife in the archipelago of Västervik. There were both a bird sanctuary and a nature reserve in the area where the oil spill has occurred. The 'Makassar Highway' was pulled away from the coast by the Danish offsshore tug 'Blue Antares' (IMO: 8401949) and was no longer leaking oil. It was moored in pos. 57° 56.85' N 016° 52.99' E. In the morning of July 30 salvors began to drain the ship's fuel tanks. Two of the ship's fuel tanks were ruptured but as large parts of the ship's bottom had been stuck on the rocky bottom, they could not yet be investigated. The Coastguard was on scene with the 'Amfitrite - KBV 003', the 'KBV 033' and the 'KBV 049'. The helmsman of the ship, who was alone on the bridge when the grounding occurred, has acknowledged that he was drunk. The captain of the ship had ordered him to steer closer to land, but did not ensure a sharp lookout. He was also charged with negligence and pollution.
