A Norwegian cargo ship loaded with stone heading for Norway has sank off Sweden’s west coast and all six crew members are considered dead. The Langeland sent out an SOS after it began listing heavily in stormy waters near the Swedish town of Stromstad.
The coastguard deployed 20 people in a search and rescue mission for the missing crew, who were all from Poland and Russia. But after a lengthy search the coastguard has given them up for dead.
“No bodies have been found as yet. We have a helicopter and aircraft searching the area now. We found life rafts and wreckage from the ship. We also found patches of oil,” commented Christer Fjaellstroem, a duty officer for the Swedish coastguard to The Local.
After several days the Langeland was found by the Swedish coastguard lying at a depth of 110 metres south of the Koster Islands. The ship was apparently trying to find shelter from the strong winds in the Koster Fjord.
“We were able to identify the name of the vessel from the pictures, and could thereby confirm that it is the Langeland. It is lying on its port side in the mud and looks to have landed with force. But sight was very poor down there so we have not been able to see that much,” Ulrika Nilsson at the Swedish coastguard told the TT news agency.
See more at the Swedish news source, The Local.