B5/​2000M MV JANRA, Cap­siz­ing in North­ern Baltic 23.12.2000

25.08.2003

The German container vessel mv JANRA was on route from Rauma to the Kiel Canal when she collided on December 23, 2000 at about 03.07 hrs ships time (02:07 UTC) with the 20 metre high edge mark “Tröskeln Västra” in the Finnish territorial waters in the Northern Baltic.

The 2nd mate was alone on the bridge at the time of the collision. When colliding with the edge mark the vessel hit with her starboard side of the forecastle into the edge mark column and the ice deflector cone. As a consequence of the collision the edge mark fell down.

As a result of the damages water entered into wing tank No. 1 and cargo hold No. 1. The vessel developed a list of about 15 degrees. The master gave the order to prepare for abandoning the ship. The crew left the ship by using the free-fall lifeboat when the list quickly increased to about 25 degrees. The master and the 2nd mate remained onboard for some time. The flooding continued and finally led to capsizing some hours later.

Similar collisions on Deep Water Route Edge Marks had occurred four times previously. These accidents happened in fair weather and early morning hours. JANRA’s collision must be viewed partly as a fatigue problem on this sea area.

The investigators have given safety recommendations on the safeguard against fatigue to ship owners. Safety recommendations on the requirements for survival suits, on small cargo ship damaged stability regulations and on the design criteria for edge marks have been given to maritime administrations.