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Stranded Dutch captain may have been drunk

AFPA Dutch vessel that ran aground near the southern Swedish port of Helsingborg on Friday may have been commanded by a drunk captain, the Swedish coast guard said.

"We suspect that the boat captain was drunk, but it has not been proven yet," Tomas Nilsson of the Swedish coast guard said. "He has been taken to the police station for blood tests," he said.

The five other crew members of the 85-meter (278-feet) Flinterforest, a Dutch vessel, are safe and still onboard. The ship ran aground a few kilometers (miles) north of Helsingborg, on her way from Finland to Scotland. The coast guard was alerted at 5:30 am (0330 GMT) and said no fuel had been spilled.

 

Built in 2004, the Flinterforest cargo vessel belongs to a Dutch shipping company by the same name and is managed by two other companies: Flinter Management and Forestwave Navigation.

The ship's commercial manager, Flinter, said the captain was taken into custody by Swedish police for further questioning, but declined to comment on allegations that he had been drunk.

The coast guard is still trying to determine how to free the ship, which is beached on gravel.

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