Today’s big topic: Denmark has lost control of shady high-risk ships in the Øresund
Denmark lacks a workable I.T. system to check ships’ data before they sail through the Øresund. The vessel *Eventin', registered in Panama, is seen here in the waters between Denmark and Germany.
What’s happening?
The Russian shadow fleet is increasing the need for surveillance and enforcement in Danish waters. But in the Øresund, Denmark is still unable to keep tabs on whether ships are complying with a specific recommendation on safe navigation.
While the military, around the clock, hails oil tankers and other vessels that require special attention as they pass through the Great Belt, the situation in the Øresund is entirely different. Here, authorities now acknowledge to Politiken, a crucial I.T. system that was supposed to ensure oversight is still missing.
That is despite the fact that more than three years ago, in a report, Rigsrevisionen (the National Audit Office) pointed out that the Øresund lacks controls to determine whether ships fall under the international recommendation to use a pilot. A pilot is a navigator with local knowledge who can help guide a ship safely through the narrow waters.
Why it matters!
The shadow fleet often consists of old, worn Russian oil tankers that are considered to pose a particular environmental risk but sail under other countries’ flags.
Because authorities lack a clear overview, Denmark also cannot use the only available sanction against ships that do not follow the recommendation from the International Maritime Organization (IMO). With a so-called flag-state letter, Denmark would normally contact the country where the ship is registered.
Information about a vessel’s draft and cargo is decisive in determining whether it falls under the recommendation to use a pilot. One purpose is to minimize the risk of collisions like the one in 2001, when the freighter ’Tern’ collided with the oil tanker ’Baltic Carrier’ southeast of Falster.
Back then, about 2,350 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the water and drifted toward Møn and Falster. The cleanup cost more than 100 million kroner. Up to 20,000 birds died after being coated in oil. Rigsrevisionen itself highlights the ’Baltic Carrier’ accident in its report on the use of pilots, published in December 2022.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– Half of doctors in psychiatry say themselves that at least once a month they turn away sick citizens
Citizens struggling with ADHD, anxiety, eating disorders or depression who need treatment are often turned away by the psychiatric system. Doctors say so themselves. 19 % of doctors working in psychiatry say that they or their department turn away patients referred for psychiatric treatment every single day because of a lack of capacity. 17 % say their department turns away patients weekly because it is overloaded, while 13 % say it happens monthly.
– DMI: Spring is now truly taking hold
Denmark can look forward to a week of fair, dry and sunny weather. Temperatures will climb as the week goes on, and you can safely leave the rain jacket at home. The fine weather will peak on Friday, bringing another day of dry, sunny conditions, with the thermometer in some places reaching 20 degrees.
– If Denmark had Swedish rules, Mette Frederiksen would have been replaced as royal mediator
Unlike Denmark, Sweden has fixed electoral terms, with elections held every four years in September. Another Swedish rule requires that a so-called snap election be called after four failed prime-minister votes. It’s been over a month since the general elections were held, and Mette Frederiksen still seems far from landing a government compromise. She must navigate between the red lines set by, among others, SF, Dansk Folkeparti (DF) and Moderaterne (M), while Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) holds the seats needed to block both a blue and a red prime minister.
Talk of town: He’s more studio mouse than rock god: On Saturday, the antihero played an intangibly wonderful concert
Concert with Tame Impala
»What day is it? Sunday?«.
Kevin Parker of Tame Impala tousled his bed hair and asked, surely in all sincerity, as he stood in Royal Arena on Saturday night looking bewildered.
Was it Sunday? No. Did it matter? No.
Because Kevin Parker and his band were already deep into a miraculously exhilarating concert.
In a world where everyone else always knows everything, he isn’t weighed down by unnecessary knowledge like, say, what day of the week it is.
It has been four years since Tame Impala last played Royal Arena.
They were touring behind the half-baked, studio-nerdy album ’The Slow Rush’, and the concert felt a bit like that too.
Back then, the place wasn’t full. This time, it was.
And that despite the fact that the band’s most recent album, the more club-minded, house-bubbling ’Deadbeat’, got a mixed reception.
That wasn’t the case at Royal Arena, where new numbers like ’Dracula’, ’My Old Ways’ and ’Loser’ were welcomed with rapturous open arms.
Read the full review of Tame Impala’s concert here.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.