C1/​2002M M/​S FJORD PEARL, Shift­ing of Cargo and Dan­ger Sit­u­a­tion, Jan­u­ary 2, 2002

21.10.2003

M/S FJORD PEARL loaded a total of 8446 m^3 of timber at Pietarsaari on December 27-31, 2001. The timber was sawn length packages and covered by plastic-coated paper hoods. South of the Aland Islands, the wind increased to 17-18 m/s in the evening and at night on January 1, 2002. At midnight, the wind force was already 20 m/s with gusts up to 27 m/s. The vessel was travelling at heading 143° and was rolling and pitching violently. The Master detected a wind list of about 5° and the rolling was 5-10° to both sides. At 01:47 a.m. local time the heading had to be changed to 208°. During the turn, the vessel first listed about 15° to port and immediately after 30° to star-board at which point the shifting of the deck cargo about 1-1.5 m to starboard was noticed. The vessel remained listed about 22° to starboard. The speed was reduced to the slowest possible steering speed and the bow was turned into the wind. In a few hours the list increased to 26° due to leaks. By using all of pump capacity the list was stabilised to this reading. Upon assessing the situation, it was noted that ice was forming and that water was leaking into the fuel and ballast tanks and to the holds. The Master decided to seek to an emergency harbour to ensure the safety of the crew and of the vessel and he sent a radio message to Turku Radio concerning the emer-gency situation.

Escorted by the maritime rescue organisation the vessel arrived at Airisto where the rescue com-pany lightened the deck cargo. The vessel was then transferred to Turku port for repairs and reloading. Since no deficiencies compromising safety were detected in the securing of the deck cargo or in other activities, the Accident Investigation Board decided to investigate the incident.

The investigation produced evidence of dangerous development of the friction coefficients in winter conditions. The Master of the vessel should be informed of the detected safety risks when the vessel is loading.