C3/1999M Trawler ARSKA, Grounding off Himanka on 12.8.1999

Trawler ARSKA, from Himanka, grounded off Himanka on August 12, 1999, around 03:00 o’clock when returning to her home port from a fishing trip. ARSKA had been trawling at sea together with trawler MASI.

The cause of the grounding was a failure of the radar chart system of the trawler. The position of ARSKA was “stuck” on the radar chart and the fisherman steering her thought that he was more westward than in reality. ARSKA hit the shoal and got stuck on it.

Right after grounding the fisherman steering ARSKA contacted his colleagues onboard MASI and asked their help to tow the vessel afloat. The wind and swell were increasing at this time. Towing ARSKA afloat turned out to be extremely difficult because the joint haul was in MASI’s hold and she sailed considerably deeper than ARSKA. The crew of MASI asked at 02:00 o’clock if trawler ALLI could come from ashore and assist because her draught was less as she was smaller. ALLI brought with her also a fibreglass boat which could be used to fetch the towline from ARSKA.

Even though the fetching of the towline from ARSKA was a success, pulling her afloat was not. Because of this the fisherman leading the action onboard MASI decided to make an emergency call to the regional emergency centre at 04:00 o’clock and ask for a helicopter assistance to res-cue the fisherman onboard ARSKA.

The Finnish Coast Guard helicopter from Turku rescued the fisherman at 07:10.

ARSKA was pulled afloat on August 14, 1999. Her starboard side plate was dented. Also the pro-peller blades were damaged when the propeller hit the ground. The trawler banked at least 35 degrees and the hold, engine room, and cockpit were wetted so badly that the interior decoration had to be completely renewed.

The fisherman steering ARSKA received a minor injury in his hand. There were no environmental damage.

C3/1999M Report (pdf, 0.48 Mt)