BIRGER JARL

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Latest news

Scandal ship sold to Gothenburg company

The 'Birger Jarl'/'Baltic Star', which is mooredin Lunde, right next to Sandöbron, has now been sold. Threats of heavy fines if the ship is not moved have caused the relationship between the owner Leif-Ivan Karlsson and the municipality of Kramfors to become completely frozen. Now a Gothenburg company wants to refurbish the 81-year-old ship to operate the route Gothenburg - Travemünde. An agreement was to be signed on April 24, 2024. The ship was then to be towed to Gustavik, a half a mile south. Here is Norrland's only really large dry dock, big enough to handle the ship. Report with video: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vasternorrland/uppgifter-skandalbaten-i-lunde-sald-till-goteborgsforetag

Hope that Baltic Star is moved after arrest of owner

After the arrest of Leiv-Ivan Karlsson, Malin Svanholm, municipal councilor in Kramfors, was hopeful that demands for a fine can be served and the 'Baltic Star' is moved from Lunde In December, the owner of the ship was fined SEK 200,000 a month if it was not moved. But for the fine to take effect, it was necessary that Leif-Ivan Karlsson be served with the decision, something that could not happen as he was abroad until Easter. During Easter, Karlsson was arrested by the police at his home and served with suspicion of gross misconduct against a creditor, grossly aggravating bankruptcy and gross accounting offences. These financial crimes have taken place between 2019 and 2021. On April 4, he was requested to be detained. What this means for the ongoing dispute with Kramfors municipality is unclear, but Malin Svanholm in any case htought that it was good that something changes in the case. The Prosecutor's Office stated that the suspicions that were now being directed at Leif-Ivan Karlsson are not about the so-called "Think Pink gang" that concerns serious environmental crimes. Nor does it apply to operations outside of Stockholm, and therefore not to the 'Baltic Star' either.

Owner of Baltic Star arrested

On the morning of April 2, the police arrested the 'Baltic Star's owner Leif-Ivan Karlsson. He was suspected of financial crime. Leif-Ivan Karlsson, who, among other things, runs a business in Strängnäs, was arrested at his home in Stockholm, where he was visiting over the Easter weekend. Soon it will be decided whether he should be detained or released. According to prosecutors at the Ecocrime Authority, he was suspected of four serious financial crimes. It concerns gross misconduct against creditors, gross aggravation of bankruptcy and two gross accounting offences. He was being held on probable cause. There were different crime periods between the years 2019 and 2021 and all have taken place in Stockholm, according to prosecutor Maximilian Berg Molin. Leif-Ivan Karlsson is also one of 11 people charged with involvement in the environmental scandal surrounding Think Pink. The waste company is suspected of dumping and burying unsorted construction waste at various locations in Central Sweden.