MV Finnbirch
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1978 |
| Laid down: | ? |
| Launched: | ? |
| Delivered: | ? |
| Fate: | Shipwrecked in the Baltic Sea on November 1, 2006 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Call sign: | SLNK |
| Home port: | Stockholm |
| Displacement: | ? tons (? metric tons) |
| Length: | 156 m (511.8 ft) |
| Beam: | 22.70 m (74.5 ft) |
| Draft: | 7.30 m (24 ft) |
| Speed: | 17 knots (30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 14 crew |
| Cargo Capacity: | ? |
MV Finnbirch was a Swedish ro-ro ship built in 1978 as MS Stena Prosper. On November 1, 2006, the ship sank on the east coast of Sweden. At the time of the shipwreck, Finnbirch had a crew of 14, consisting of four Swedes and ten Filipinos. The ship capsized in a heavy storm which also set an oil rig adrift. The crew were seen sitting on the ship's hull, but the storm prevented rescue boats from reaching the scene and it was too dangerous to lower the helicopter crew onto the violently pitching hull. All but two of the men were eventually rescued after jumping into the sea once the ship had capsized. One of the Filipino crewmembers died in the hospital after his rescue suit failed and a Swede drowned after being entangled in the wreck. The master of the ship broke several bones after falling, but survived.
The ship was built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and delivered to its owner Stena RoRo on February 2, 1978. In 1988 the ship was sold to Finnish Rettig, and in 1995 to Bore Line. In 1999, Strömma Turism & Sjöfart in Stockholm acquired the ship and kept it until it foundered. Lindholm Shipping, Strömma Turism & Sjöfart AB was the last owner of MV Finnbirch and its sister ship MV Finnforest. Both vessels were in timecharter for the Finnish company Finnlines Plc at the time of the sinking.[2]
[edit] References
- Investigation by the Swedish Accident Investigation Board (Swedish)
- Nordic storms sink Swedish ship (BBC News)
- DN Nyheter: Sju räddade från kapsejsat fartyg (Swedish)
- Fartygets historia (Swedish)
- Swedish Freighter Capsizes in the Baltic Sea - The crew was forced to jump overboard
- Ship rescue faces criticism
[edit] Notes
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