Emerging Incident: Sinking of the fishing trawler "Dalniy Vostok" in Russia (1 April 2015)

A large Russian fish factory, the "Dalniy Vostok", sank off the remote east coast of Russia on Wednesday 1 April 2015, resulting in a very high number of casualties.

Vessel: Fishing Trawler "Dalniy Vostok" / "Dal'nij Vostok" (IMO No. 5085653)

P & I Club: Unconfirmed (but thought to be Ingosstrakh)

GT: 23,102

Build: 1963 (52 years old)

Flag: Russia

Operator: Magellan LLC

Numbers Onboard: 132 crew of Russian, Burmese, Ukranian, Lithuanian and Vanuatuan nationality.

Voyage: Working off the Kamchatka peninsula.

Incident: The vessel appears to have been trawling a very heavy (and possibly overweight) dragnet, when she may have struck ice or some mother object, resulting in the vessel being pulled quickly beneath the surface.

ARTICLE: The Sinking of the "Bulgaria" (2011)

 

Vessel: Passenger Ship "Bulgaria"

Year: 2011 (July)

Place: Tatarstan, Volga River, Russian Federation.

Incident: Sinking.

Casualties: 77 Adult fatalities, 11 children. 

Cause: Age & Maintenance of Vessel / Overcrowding / Heavy Weather. 

On 11 July the vessel "Bulgaria" was sailing, heavily overcrowded, when it rolled, allowing water to rush into the internal spaces, causing the vessel to sink. It took just three minutes to sink leaving almost 200 people overboard and trapped inside, two miles from land.

One of the most tragic reports from the incident was that two nearby vessels sailed past and refused to offer assistance to the survivors. It noew appears that legal proceedings will be issued against those two ships by the Russian government.

The ship was 55 years old and its construction meant that any water ingress to internal areas was fatal (there were no seperation comprtments in the hull). The extrememe overcrowding would not allow it to stay upright in the weather it experienced. Investigations into this tragic accident are ongoing.

ARTICLE: Shipping Accidents on Video

A few of the maritime accidents of the world caught on video.