B1/​1997M In­land Pas­sen­ger Ves­sel ms UKKO, Ground­ing in Lake Kallavesi on 23.5.1997

29.08.2001

The Finnish-flagged inland passenger vessel ms UKKO grounded in Lake Kallavesi at abt. 18:00 on May 23rd 1997. Onboard the vessel were 110 passengers and a crew of 7 for the season’s first cruise. This cruise chartered by a company for clients and own personnel was carried out with two vessels of the same shipowner.

The two vessels had departed at abt. 16:30 with UKKO as the following one. The duration for the cruise had been planned as one hour and a half. The distance between the vessels was a couple of hundreds of metres. The return to place of departure was made through a water area where no fairways had been marked. The turn to this area made by UKKO was started too early and resulted in grounding at abt. 18:00. The vessel stopped on the shoal and shortly some small leakage was observed, which was partly contained by the crew of the vessel. The passengers were evacuated by rescue vessel from nearby town Kuopio, which arrived to the scene abt. 50 minutes from the accident. UKKO was towed from the shoal at 02:25 and it was taken by own power to Kuopio port.

Many factors contributed to the accident. The master had given a vague instruction to the helmsman to follow the other vessel. The helmsman had understood this so that he could sterr the vessel on his own. When the turn started the master himself was having a dinner on the bridge and simultaneusly a crew member was visiting the bridge. Due to these distractions the proper monitoring of helmsman’s actions or navigation could have been difficult for the master. UKKO followed another vessel to unmarked water area without having an appropriate passage plan. The way the navigation was carried out was inadequate in respect of the local knowledge from the navigation area by the bridge crew.

The accident could easily have developed into a major one with serious consequences, if the vessel had capsized and/or sunk. As the water temperature was especially low the investigation has focused also on the feasibility of the life saving equipment and on the construction of the vessel.