“Norwegian Gannet” narrowly avoided damage as floating dock began to sink.
A large floating dock that was built in 1911 but still in use on Norway’s West Coast CCB base suddenly capsized and sank Monday morning.
The dock was located at Ågotnes, west of Bergen.
Two workers on the dock landed in the water but were quickly rescued before it sank.
The ship “Norwegian Gannet” was on its way into the dock and Captain Sigmund Våge was on the bridge when the dock began to sink.
“We were on our way into the dock when we were told to evacuate and get out,” he said.
Technical problems
They were told that there were technical problems with the float dock.
“We got out of trouble and it seems that the boat has been fine,” said Våge.
According to the police, both the float dock and a barge sank to the bottom of the sea.
The cause of the accident is unknown and noone has yet been reported injured.
There were 19 people aboard the boat when the accident occurred. A crew of 18 and 1 person from the CCB base. The boat is now is outside the base and awaiting further notice.
CEO of the CCB base, Kurt Rune Andreassen, told Sysla that they had planned a docking operation of the ship all weekend.
“We have done surveys, stress tested and prepared us. To me, it’s a mystery that this could have happened,” said Andreassen, who was on his way to Ågotnes Monday morning.
Harvested salmon on board
“Norwegian Gannet” is still in test phase and therefore did not have full crew on board.
“We just had to go to a check in the dock,” said Våge.
The brand new harvesting vessel has a processing plant on board, which means it can carry fish straight from the cages without the need to go on land. The ship was baptized in Bergen on 17 November.
A new salmon terminal is being built in Hirtshals, a seaport on the coast of Denmark, where harvested fish will be taken and loaded onto trailers.
Its first operation is scheduled for December.
