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ENVIRONMENT

Swedish oil-spill ferry towed to port without further leaks

Sweden's coast guard said the passenger ferry that ran aground last month causing a large oil spill had been safely towed to port.

Published: 2 November 2023 15:55 CET
Swedish oil-spill ferry towed to port without further leaks
Bosses from TT-line and the Swedish Coast Guard next to the ferry after it was towed to port. Photo: Ola Torkelsson/TT

The Marco Polo ferry, operated by TT-Line, ran aground south of the southern city of Karlshamn on October 22nd, with the vessel’s 75 passengers safely evacuated.

It stayed still for days but then drifted off due to strong winds on Sunday and once again ran aground, causing further oil spills.

“The passenger ferry Marco Polo has been towed into the Stilleryd harbour in Karlshamn (…) without complications or new oil spills,” the Swedish Coast Guard said in a statement on Thursday.

“The coast guard maintains a presence in Pukavik Bay in case previously leaked oil is found,” it continued.

It added that once the ship had been moored in port, the municipal rescue service would take over.

Sweden on Friday fined two crew members for “recklessness in maritime traffic”.

On Tuesday, the coast guard said some 50 cubic metres (50,000 litres or 13,000 gallons) of oil and oil waste had been collected.

Swedish authorities said last week it could take as long as a year to completely clean up the spill.

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ENVIRONMENT

Swedish government to scrap flight tax from next summer

Sweden's government has announced that it is abolishing the country's flight tax in its latest measure rolling back the environmental policies of the previous government.

Published: 3 September 2024 16:40 CEST
Swedish government to scrap flight tax from next summer

At a joint press conference with the far-right Sweden Democrats, Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said that the tax had been an obstacle to Swedish competitiveness. 

“If you want to make sure of the ability to have good air connections and keep Sweden as an international hub, you must make sure not to discriminate against the very competitive advantage that Sweden has,” he said. “This is both in line with long-term climate policy and to protect the long country’s travel opportunities.” 

The flight tax was brought in back in 2018 by the previous government coalition of the Social Democrats and the Green Party, and was set at a deliberately low level, with the idea that it could then be successively raised. 

At the level it is set at this year, it adds about 76 kronor extra per passenger to a flight to Europe, about 315 kronor to a flight to the USA and about 504 kronor to a flight to Thailand. This year, it is expected to bring in total tax revenues of about 1.8 billion kronor. 

At the press conference, the government said that the tax would be scrapped entirely from July 1st next year. 

“We are doing this to promote air traffic across the country and to improve accessibility across the country. This will mean, quite simply, lower ticket prices,” the Sweden Democrats’ group leader, Linda Lindberg, said at the press conference. 

The government had previously considered halving the tax but has instead opted to abolish it. 

The country’s energy and business minister, Ebba Busch, brushed away the concerns that boosting air traffic would increase emissions. 

“As far as Sweden’s climate goals are concerned, it won’t make a huge amount of difference,” she said. “Our ambition is that this is going to increase the amount of air passengers which in the long run will mean more air traffic. This is going to affect climate emissions, but that’s something we’ll look at later on.”

Busch said that as most countries in the EU lacked a flight tax, it had been harming Sweden’s competitiveness. 

“This is extremely important for many companies and for large sections of Swedish industry — that we can keep our flight connections,” she said. “Only a minority of countries in the EU have a flight tax, so this has been a very tough competitive disadvantage for Sweden.”

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