Swedish Coast Guard News

A crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe found evidence of detonations, strengthening suspicions of "gross sabotage", Sweden's Security Service said on Thursday. Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks after the pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, were damaged at the start of last week. Europe, which used to rely on Russia for about 40% of its gas…

Sweden sent a diving vessel on Monday to the site of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that ruptured last week following blasts in the area, to probe an incident that has added new tension to Europe's energy crisis.Europe is investigating what caused three pipelines in the Nord Stream network to burst in an act of suspected sabotage near Swedish and Danish waters that Moscow quickly sought to pin on the West, suggesting the United States stood to gain."The coast guard is responsible for the mission…

A ferry was back in the Swedish port of Nynashamn on Tuesday after a fire on the car deck temporarily knocked out its power, the Swedish Coast Guard said in a statement. The fire in a refrigerated container started at mid-day on Monday north of the island of Gotland as the Stena Scandica was heading to Ventspils in Latvia from Nynashamn. The fire was put out on Monday afternoon. No injuries were reported among the 241 passengers and 58 crew aboard, the Swedish Maritime Administration said.Suffering a power failure after the fire…

A Swedish court ordered a British crew member of the ship Scot Carrier to be remanded in custody on Thursday, following a collision earlier this week that left one crew member of a Danish barge dead and another missing, TT Newsagency reported.The court detained him on suspicion of causing death through negligence, maritime drunkenness, and negligence in maritime traffic.The suspect only admitted one count of negligence in maritime traffic, and denied all the others, according to TT.Neither the prosecutor nor the suspect's defense lawyer could be immediately reached.At least one person, a Danis

A Danish ship involved in a collision off the Swedish coast that left one crew member dead and another missing has started to take on water and may soon sink, the Swedish Coast Guard said on Wednesday.At least one person, a Danish crew member from the 55-metre barge Karin Hoj, died in the collision with the 90-metre Scot Carrier, which occurred in fog and darkness off the Danish island of Bornholm in the early hours of Monday.Karin Hoj capsized from the collision but remained afloat, and was towed to shallow water where it was searched.

Sweden has asked Norway for assistance in fighting a fire that started on a cargo ship carrying timber off Sweden's west coast on Saturday as it risks spreading, authorities said.Harsh weather had so far made it difficult to extinguish the fire.

A fire that started on a cargo ship carrying timber off Sweden's west coast on Saturday was still raging on Tuesday, authorities said, though it had not spread to the ship itself.Several organizations including the Swedish coast guard are fighting the cargo fire on the Almirante Storni, anchored off Gothenburg.A coast guard spokesman said that drones were being used to monitor the fire and there have been no injuries, though harsh weather has made work more difficult."It is worrying.

A fire on a cargo ship carrying timber off Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast was still not under control on Sunday after more than 24 hours, authorities said.The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) said it had sent two helicopters, while several other authorities and organizations, including the Coast Guard, were also fighting the fire.The ship's cargo, timber, had caught fire on Saturday, and while the ship itself was not burning, the fire was difficult to extinguish, MSB…

Later this year a major oil and chemical protection exercise dubbed SCOPE 2017 will be carried out in Norway. A joint project including major European and Scandinavian stakeholders, the simulated response to a combined oil and chemical spill aims to foster clearer communication and coordination of spill response across agencies and physical country boundaries. Stig Wahlstrøm, Project Manager SCOPE 2017, Norwegian Coastal Administration and Johan Marius Ly, Director, Department for Emergency Response, explain.

A joint oil and chemical protection exercise between the Nordic countries will involve more than 300 personnel and 30 vessels, making for one of the largest projects of its kind in European history. An increasing level of shipping traffic has led to a growing fear of accidents and an adverse risk picture. The accident involving M/V Full City in July 2009 on the coast of Langesund illustrated the crucial need for preparedness in dealing with accidents across national borders. To meet this aim, the Nordic countries will arrange a joint oil and chemical protection exercise September 25-29 in Langesund. Code-named SCOPE 2017 (Skagerrak Chemical Oilspill Pollution Exercise)…

On Wednesday 21st December, Norsafe signed yet another new contract with the Swedish Coast Guard (KBV) to deliver nine new Magnum 750 MKII boats. The boats are specially developed in close cooperation with KBV and are a continuation of seven boats already delivered between 2015 and 2016. “It is hard to imagine a better Christmas present than this”, says Kjell Sørensen, the leader of this area of business at Norsafe. “This shows that Norsafe is recognised as a high quality provider of specialised boats. For many years Norsafe has had a particularly good and fruitful cooperation with KBV. Through this collaboration, Norsafe has developed a fast rescue boat that also meets the KBV’s operational requirements.

Kongsberg GeoAcoustics has completed the Swedish Coast Guard (KBV) project with the installation and full acceptance of a 125 kHz GeoSwath Shallow Water Multibeam echosounder on the fourth and final new-build multipurpose vessel. These vessels, all under Swedish flag, are defined as multipurpose vessels with the possibility of oil recovery, conforming to class GL 100A5 DP0 Oil Recovery Vessel E2 HC-/2 and conforming to the Swedish Maritime Administration for traffic in international voyage service area ‘A’.

The Swedish coastal radio network is a cornerstone of search and rescue activities in Swedish waters and is considered to be the mariner’s communication lifeline. The Swedish Maritime Administration is now investing some SEK 50 million to improve and modernise the system. “The coastal radio network is a fundamental part of our maritime infrastructure. The planned investment will improve its stability and increase maritime safety even further”, says Jon Granstedt, the Administration’s President of Construction and Engineering.

While economies across Europe have essentially bumbled, stumbled and fumbled in the wake of the global economic meltdown, Germany has remained comparitively strong. Despite the general migration of shipbuilding to the Far East, we decided to check in on the current status of this proud nation with a strong maritime heritage. German shipbuilders concentrated in 2012 on building cruise ships, megayachts, freight ferries and additional high-value, specialty ships. In total, nine German shipyards across 12 shipbuilding sites supplied 21 sea going ships with a total tonnage of 473,700.

The Peene shipyard in Germany successfully completed a new series that was part of an order obtained during insolvency. The coast guard vessel (Kustbevakningen Vessel) KBV 034 was handed over to the Swedish Coast Guard, with a reflagging ceremony at dock 2 of the Peene shipyard in Wolgast, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The Swedish Coast Guard originally placed the order for a total of four new coast guard vessels in 2008.Two of the coast guard vessels were already delivered in June and July of 2012. After the Peene shipyard filed for insolvency, that contract had to be reaffirmed.

The coast guard vessel (Kustbevakningen Vessel) KBV 033 was handed over to the Swedish Coast Guard with a reflagging ceremony at dock three of the Peene shipyard in Wolgast. A special day for P+S Werften, currently under insolvency administration: Initially the Swedish Coast Guard placed an order for a total of four newly built KBVs in 2008; but in the context of insolvency proceedings, the Peene shipyard could not fulfill the order completely without a new agreement. Two of the coast guard vessels were already delivered in June and July of 2012.

On January 17, 2013, insolvency administrator Berthold Brinkmann gave a report about current developments at the P+S WERFTEN in Stralsund and Wolgast to the meeting of creditors and the creditor committee. Whereas work at the Peene shipyard in Wolgast was able to continue uninterrupted during the previous proceedings, production at the Volkswerft in Stralsund can only be resumed next Monday, 21 January 2013, following a nearly 11-week break. The agreement concerning two RoRo special vessels for Danish shipping company DFDS has now been signed, but it still subject to approval. “Because we believe approval will be granted, I've called on the operating company, Stralsunder Schiffbaugesellschaft, to take the appropriate steps to initiate production at the Volkswerft Stralsund.

A British merchant vessel, listing in rough seas in the Baltic, was escorted to safety by a Swedish coast guard vessel. The crew of the Scot Isles sent out a distress call Christmas Eve close to the Swedish island of Gotland, reports UPI. A rescue helicopter was sent from Visby and remained on the scene until a Swedish Coast Guard ship arrived. The Scot Isles' captain decided to return to Latvia and turned down an offer to evacuate his vessel, being escorted into Latvian waters by the coast guard, where Latvian coast guard vessels took over.

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) provides joint Interpol training to member-state represetatives. This year EMSA’s training and cooperation sector offered a new training course together with Interpol, the international police organization. The contents of the course was developed by Interpol withhin the framework of the project “CleanSeas” a training course on “Illegal discharges and MARPOL Violations”. Lecturers from EMSA, the US Department of Justice, the Swedish Coast…

With its Volvo Penta’s innovative propulsion system the ships are to reduce fuel consumption by approximately 30% compared to traditional installations. To give the vessel the best overall performance the highly efficient Volvo Penta IPS 1050 complete propulsion system was selected. The system consists of triple Volvo Penta IPS 1050 based on 3 x D13-800 rated at 588 kW each, giving  total propulsion power of 1764 kw. with 3 x IPS 3 fully integrated pod units ( gearbox, exhaust system, rudder and steering machinery).

The Swedish Coast Guard is to install Volvo Penta’s Inboard Performance System (IPS) in a new type of vessel for sea rescue and border control. Using the IPS system, the Coast Guard is targeting to reduce the fuel consumption of the new vessels by about 30%. The drives were chose for the five new KBV 312 vessels that will be used for surveillance, border control, fishing control, sea rescue and safety at sea activities. The order to Volvo Penta consists of a total of 15 complete IPS systems.

On Saturday evening, 29 of May, the Seychelles Coast Guard disrupted a Pirate Action Group, including a mother ship with nine suspected pirates on board and two fast attack skiffs, after being led to the target by an EU NAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft from the Swedish Coast Guard. On last Thursday, 27 May, an EU NAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft from the Swedish Coast Guard spotted a suspected Pirate Action Group (PAG) about 500 nautical miles east of the Somali coast. The PAG consisted of one whaler and two skiffs. At that time, no units were close enough to verify and control the vessels. On Saturday morning, the PAG was relocated some 250 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles.

Thomas M. DiBiagio, U.S. Attorney for Maryland and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department Environment and Natural Resources Division, today announced the sentencing of a Danish shipping company, D/S Progress, to pay a $250,000 criminal fine for conspiring to conceal a hazardous leak in the hull of an oil tanker that visited Baltimore, for failing to report emergency discharges to save the ship and for presenting false log books to the U.S. Coast Guard in order to disguise the leak, emergency discharges and other deliberate acts of dumping oil. D/S Progress, a ship management company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was responsible for the "Freja Jutlandic," an oil tanker which first arrived in Baltimore on March 22, 2000.