Report on marine accident - Viking 7, LG8351, capsized north west of Mehamn 6 July 2014
Marine report 2016/10 eng
English translation is now available. The accident investigation board Norway (AIBN) has completed a safety investigation after the rental vessel Viking 7 took in water and capsized with five tourist fishermen and a guide on board. Everybody on board fell into the sea during the capsizing. One of the tourists deceased as a result of the stress he was exposed to, and another was brought to hospital with cardiac arrhythmia caused by hypothermia. The rest of the tourists and the guide, was not injured in the accident. The safety investigation concludes that the accident probably was caused by water ingress through two drain openings in the vessels stern, via drainage channels ahead in the vessel and down through a leaky hatch in the flooring. The water filled unfoamed void spaces between the outer hull and the innerliner. This caused loss of buoyancy and loss of stability.
The vessel, a Dolmøy 230 Fisker, had been marketed and sold as a leisure craft, and the use of the vessel required compliance with the lesgislation for construction of leisure crafts.
The investigation carried out by the AIBN has revealed that the drain openings in the transom of the vessel did not meet the minimum requirements with regard to downflooding height in the ISO standard that supported the regulation 20th of December 2004 no. 1820 about production and trading of leisure crafts etc.
The investigation has further revealed that the arrangement for detection and removal of water that possibly could flood the vessel did not function as intended, despite that the arrangement met the requirements in the ISO standard. Neither the guide nor the tourists noticed the water ingress before it was too late.
In connection with the evaluation of the vessels stability the AIBN has also revealed that the vessels ability to withstand heeling moments in intact condition would not have met the ISO standard requirements. Despite that this is not directly related to the course of events, the AIBN consider this to be of great importance for the safety.
Prior to the accident the supervisory authority had not inspected the vessel or kept the manufacturer under supervision. The ISO standards are intricate and not user-friendly, and the AIBN consider that a more active supervision may have functioned as the extra barrier that could have ensured compliance with the standards.
The AIBN issues four safety recommendations in this report.
Safety recommendation
Safety Recommendation MARINE No 2016/06T
The Viking 7 accident on 6 July 2014 was caused by ingress of water through the drain openings, which in turn caused flooding of the space between the inner liner and the outer hull via drain channels and a leaking flush hatch in the inner liner. The Accident Investigation Board Norway’s investigation showed that the drain openings in the transom did not meet the requirements of ISO 12217-1:2013 ‘Small craft – Stability and buoyancy assessment and categorization. Part 1: Non-sailing boats of hull length greater than or equal to 6 m’ with respect to minimum freeboard to the waterline of downflooding openings.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway recommends that Dolmøy Gjestebrygge AS implement measures to ensure that boats in the Dolmøy 230 Fisker series meet the requirements of ISO 12217-1:2013 relating to downflooding openings or, alternatively, implement measures to ensure that the criteria for waiving these requirements are met.
Safety Recommendation MARINE No 2016/07T
The Accident Investigation Board Norway’s investigation of the Viking 7 accident on 6 July 2014 has shown that the arrangement for detecting and removing water did not work as intended, even though it was in accordance with the requirements of ISO standard 12217-1:2013 ‘Small craft – Stability and buoyancy assessment and categorization. Part 1: Non-sailing boats of hull length greater than or equal to 6 m’. Consequently, neither the guide nor the fishing tourists realised that the vessel was being swamped with water until it was too late.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway recommends that Dolmøy Gjestebrygge AS implement measures to improve the arrangement for detecting and removing water from the space below the inner liner in boats in the Dolmøy 230 Fisker series or, alternatively, implement measures to reduce the risk of or the consequences of water ingress.
Safety Recommendation MARINE No 2016/08T
The Accident Investigation Board Norway’s investigation of the Viking 7 accident on 6 July 2014 has shown that the boat’s ability to withstand heeling moments in intact condition would not have satisfied the minimum requirement of ISO standard 12217-1:2013 ‘Small craft – Stability and buoyancy assessment and categorization. Part 1: Non-sailing boats of hull length greater than or equal to 6 m’. Consequently, the boat would have capsized even if it had been loaded in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended limits had all persons on board moved all the way to one side of the boat.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway recommends that Dolmøy Gjestebrygge AS implement measures to improve the boat’s intact stability, alternatively reduce the maximum number of persons on board.
Safety Recommendation MARINE No 2016/09T
The Accident Investigation Board Norway’s investigation of the accident with Viking 7 on 6 July 2014 has shown that, prior to the accident, the supervisory authority had not requested any documentation for the boat model Dolmøy 230 Fisker. The ISO standards that served as a basis for the Regulations of 20 December 2004 No 1820 on the Production and Placing on the Market of Recreational Craft, etc., and that serve as a basis for the current Regulations of 15 January 2016 No 35 on the Production and Placing on the Market of Recreational Craft, Water Scooters etc., are complex and not very user-friendly, and the Accident Investigation Board Norway believes that more active supervision could have provided a barrier to ensure compliance with the Regulations.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway recommends that the Norwegian Maritime Authority give higher priority to supervising the production of recreational craft.
Facts
| Location | Northwest of Mehamn |
| Occurrence date | 06.07.2014 |
| Accident category | Capsize |
| Area | Norwegian Territorial Waters |
| Name of vessel | Viking 7 |
| Accident type | Fatal Accident, Capsize, Loss of stability |
| Vessel type | Misc. Ship |
| Register | The Norwegian Ship Register |