Swedish prosecutor to free one suspect held over boat collision

[December 15, 2021]  STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A Swedish prosecutor said on Wednesday that one of two crew members of a British cargo vessel held after a collision capsized a Danish barge in the Baltic Sea would be released from custody.

The second crew member remains in detention.

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.

The prosecutor said a Croatian national and crew member of the Scot Carrier had been released after suspicions receded, although he remained under investigation.
 

A British crew member, held over the collision on several counts including causing death through negligence, remains in custody, Public Prosecutor Tomas Olvmyr said in a statement.

A lawyer for the Croatian crew member said he welcomed the decision and denied any wrongdoing. The lawyer for the British citizen could not be reached on Wednesday but said late on Tuesday he could not comment.

The prosecutor said on Tuesday both crew members were found after the collision to be over the legal limit for alcohol.

The British cargo ship Scot Carrier is moored, with damages done to the bow, after colliding with the Danish cargo ship Karin Hoej, at the port in Ystad, Sweden, December 13, 2021. Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/via REUTERS

The collision triggered a large rescue operation, which led to the discovery of the dead body of one of the two Danish barge crew members in the hull of the vessel. The other crew member remains missing.

Scotline, which owns the Scot Carrier, said in a statement on Tuesday that the crew and company were co-operating fully with the investigation.

(Reporting by Niklas Pollard and Johan Ahlander; Editing by Simon Johnson, Gareth Jones, Alexandra Hudson)

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