(AP)
Two cargo ships collided in the Baltic Sea off southern Sweden and at least two people were reported missing Monday. One of the vessels capsized and will be towed to a Swedish port, authorities said.
At least 11 vessels, one airplane and one helicopter searched for the missing crewmembers, but the Swedish Maritime Administration said later in the day that it had ended its operation without locating the pair.
The capsized vessel was being towed closer to land so divers from the Swedish Armed Forces and the Coast Guard, among others, can search it. Police also plan to take over the case and to examine the ship.
“We have no idea when the work can be completed,” the maritime agency said in a statement.
Swedish Coast Guard prosecutor Jonatan Tholin said prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation on potential charges of gross negligence in maritime traffic and “gross sea drunkenness.”
However, the cause of the collision was still unclear, Swedish Maritime Administration said. At the time, fog caused poor visibility in the area.
The maritime administration said it received a pre-dawn alarm that two cargo ships had collided south of Ystad in Sweden, close to the Danish island of Bornholm. The authority identified the ships as the Danish-flagged Karin Hoej and a British ship, the Scot Carrier. The Danish ship capsized fully and was floating upside down.
According to the website MarineTraffic, Scot Carrier was en route from Salacgriva in Latvia to Montrose in Scotland while Karin Hoej had left Sodertalje in Sweden for Nykoebing Falster in Denmark.
Sweden’s TV4 reported that oil started to flow into the water. However, the Swedish Coast Guard said there were no ongoing spills and it was carrying out work “to prevent oil or other harmful substances from being released into the sea.”