According to the Swedish coastguard, new serious damages and cracks were discovered in Makassar Highway's hull during Tuesday, the Swedish Television SVT reported on Tuesday.

The damages in the grounded ship's hull could threaten its stability, and the rescue workers have decided that the ship will be towed to harbor on Tuesday evening. The towing is scheduled to take place before the weather conditions get worse.

"The ship will be followed by several vessels and environmental protection equipment in case there are any oil leaks during the towing," the coastguard's rescue leader Matthew Heneborn told SVT.

The towing is expected to take up to 30 hours. At the moment there is no immediate risk of the ship sinking.

Makassar Highway got grounded late Sunday evening outside Southern Sweden and leaked an unknown amount of oil into the sea. According to SVT, the ship has approximately 400 000 liters of oil on board and that the damaged oil tanks are emptied before the towing starts.