Two crew members on board the British cargo ship "Scot Carrier" involved in a fatal collision with a Danish dredger in the Baltic Sea were over the limit when undergoing a drug and alcohol test, the vessel's UK owner has acknowledged.
A spokesperson for Scotline Marine Holdings Limited said in a statement that "in line with standard procedures, […] all crew members of the Scot Carrier were tested for drugs and alcohol with two crew members exceeding the legal limit".
British cargo ship Scot Carrier is pictured in Kiel, Germany April 4, 2021. Picture taken April 4, 2021
© REUTERS / TONY ZECH
"Scot Marine Holdings confirm that they have a strict drug and alcohol policy in place and have a zero-tolerance for any breaches that occur", the spokesperson stressed, adding that the company offers its "heartfelt thoughts" to the families of the deceased and a crew member who remains missing at sea.
The statement came after the Swedish Prosecution Service (SPS) announced that two crew members of the UK-flagged ship had been detained on potential charges of "aggravated drunkenness at sea", "gross negligence in sea traffic", and "gross causing of death by negligence".
The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA), in turn, said that the exact cause of the collision is still not known and that prosecutors are in the early stages of their probe into what happened.
Divers work aboard the Danish cargo ship Karin Hoej which collided with the British cargo ship Scot Carrier between Ystad and Bornholm, on the Baltic Sea December 13, 2021
© REUTERS / TT NEWS AGENCY
SMA spokesman Jonas Franzen told the BBC that screams had been heard from the water after the collision but that it was "very cold and dark" outside. According to him, "the water is about 4C (39F) and the air is about 5C (41F)".
In the early hours of Monday, the 300-foot (91-metre) "Scot Carrier" hit the 180-foot (54-metre) Danish dredger "Karin Hoej" in a 25-mile (40-kilometre)-wide stretch of the Baltic Sea located between Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm. The Danish vessel reportedly capsized "almost immediately" and a seven-hour search and rescue operation was ostensibly stopped before divers discovered the body of one sailor in the "Karin Hoej's" hull.