C3/​2002M DOURO CHEMIST, ground­ing at Lövskär junc­tion area, Feb­ru­ary 19, 2002

25.11.2002

Portuguese chemical vessel the DOURO CHEMIST left Turku for Oulu on February 19, 2002 at 04.10, in ballast and under pilot guidance. The pilot arrived on board 20 minutes before departure. Master presented his passage plan from Turku to Isokari to the pilot, who had no comments to the passage plan. During the trip the pilot deviated from the Master’s passage plan at the Väärämaa rock without prior notice and turned the vessel onto the fairway passing south of Innamo. The pilot announced that the reason for this was that the passage section between Väärämaa and Onyttan on the Master’s passage plan was closed off. This was the start of a disturbance on the bridge that eventually led to a situation on board that had not been carefully and jointly planned in advance. After the pilot lost the Kaitkivi radar target that was used as the only point of reference in the turn, he performed unwarranted steering maneuvers in the uncertain situation and the vessel grounded south of the Kaitkivi. The damage caused by the grounding was relatively minor and after the inspections at anchor the vessel was transported to Turku on the same day.