C9/​1997M Barge ON­NIA, Sink­ing at Jout­seno on 22.5.1997

30.11.2002

Barge ONNIA, carrying timber cargo and pushed by tug HELMI, grounded near Koivuluoto at Lake Saimaa at Joutseno on May 22, 1997. The barge heeled over and her deck cargo fell over-board. Soon the barge sank. The tug did not sink because its mooring wires were cut.

The cause of the accident was inadequate nautical chart. The shallow and shoal on it, to which the barge grounded, were missing from the chart. The tug and barge were sailing outside marked fairways when the grounding happened.