C5/​1997M In­land Pas­sen­ger Ves­sel ss LEPPÄVIRTA, Ground­ing in Lake Saimaa on 8.7.1997

27.07.2000

The Finnish-flagged inland passenger steamship ss LEPPÄVIRTA (built 1904) strayed away from the planned fairway and grounded in Saimaa lake district at abt. 14:35 on July 8th 1997. Onboard the vessel, which is owned by Leppävirta municipiality, were 50 passengers and a crew of 8 for a special invitation cruise.

The skipper had given instructions for the deckhand as helmsman to follow a certain fairway and had left the bridge at abt. 13:00. The deckhand had no previous experince of the vessel and had been in helm for the first time during the same day. The deckhand had begun his second round in helm abt. half an hour earlier. The deckhand had no local knowledge for the area sailed.

The skipper had discussed the schedule and a forthcoming speed reduction with the engineer. Although the speed was not reduced from the maximum of abt. 9 knots at this time. The skipper had stayed on main deck for some five minutes, and he returned now to upper deck where the bridge is, but not to the bridge itself.

The skipper was away from the bridge for about an hour before returning at abt. 14:15.

The deckhand had in the meantime strayed away from the planned route. The skipper didn’t notice this when he took over the command and the helm. He continued for some 15 minutes before slowing down. Due to a mistake in positioning the skipper continued still forward and when he tried to turn the vessel it grounded. The place of grounding is about 3 nautical miles (5.5 kilometres) from the fairway and position of going astray. The vessel could not be removed from the shoal by the use of own engines and the passengers were brought ashore by leisure boats, which had come to the scene.

As the causes and contributing factors to the accident were the lack of sufficiently detailed passage plan, inadequate instructions by the skipper to the deckhand who was inexperienced and whom the skipper left alone to the watch as well as mistake in assessment of the position when selecting the turning place for the vessel.