Balticsea 2020

Shipping Pollution - a new film about the impact of maritime transportation in the Baltic Sea

Premiers in Almedalen on 30th June.

The environmental impact of shipping in the Baltic Sea is not widely known. How have decades of unclean air emissions affected the people and the sea? Why are passengers on cruise ships allowed to defecate into the Baltic Sea? How can that be tolerated and who can put a stop to it? Following acclaimed and award-winning films about fishing, eutrophication and chemicals, Folke Rydén is now releasing his fourth film about the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea is one of the world's busiest maritime highways. Every day, thousands of ships carry comestibles across it to millions of people. However, the Baltic is one of the world's most sensitive inland seas.

- I’d like to suggest that up to the present day, the impact made by shipping on people and the environment has been generally unknown. With this film, we intend to change that, says Folke Rydén.

In the film, we meet Stig Göransson, who became sick from shipping exhaust fumes. After a long legal process, he got his illness classified as an occupational injury.

- What has driven me to keep on fighting is to spare other people the same hell as I have had, Stig Göransson says.

Stig wasn’t the only one who became ill. Large extents of the sea are also feeling unwell. Maritime air pollution has contributed to acidification and eutrophication.
The expanding cruise industry is also affecting the environment in the sea. It’s to do with huge ships like floating cities with thousands of inhabitants. Passengers who are all eating and going to the toilet. Despite availabilities for discharging their toilet waste in port, cruise ships are dumping it into the Baltic Sea.

The film has also received the attention of experts and scientists who have been sounding the alarm and coming up with suggestions for action.
Anna Peterson at the Swedish Transport Agency is trying to get a law passed prohibiting the dumping of sewage.

- We all have to bear our share of responsibility – and that goes for shipping too, Anna Peterson says.

Baltic Sea Media Project
“Shipping Pollution” is a part of the ten-year project "Baltic Sea Media Project" where journalist Folke Rydén and filmmaker and photographer Mattias Klum draw attention to the threats and opportunities facing the Baltic Sea. Up until now, four of five documentaries and one of two nature films have been made. The project is funded by BalticSea2020.

- We hope the film will increase the understanding and knowledge of the maritime industry’s influence on the Baltic Sea, both among the public and among our politicians. The Baltic is a sensitive inland sea. To reverse the trend in a positive direction required concrete action and decisions leading to reducing the load on the sea we have in common, says Conrad Stralka, operations manager at BalticSea2020.

“Shipping Pollution” has its premiere on 30 June at 3:30 pm in Almedalen. Location: Almedalsbiblioteket, Cramérgatan 5. Presented by Folke Rydén. Click here for more information and the programme (in Swedish).

For more information, please contact:

Folke Rydén, Folke Rydén Productions (FRP)
Phone: +46 (0)708-75 93 33
Email: folke@frp.se
www.folkeryden.com
www.savourbalticsea.com

Conrad Stralka, Business Manager BalticSea2020
Phone: +46 (0)8-673 97 62
Email: cs@balticsea2020.org
www.balticsea2020.org

Ida Mårtensson, Communication & Events, BalticSea2020
Phone: +46 (0)8-673 97 64
Email: im@balticsea2020.org