Sal­va­ging the shrimp traw­ler North­gui­der, which ran aground in Hin­lo­pens­tre­tet in Decem­ber last year, has tur­ned out to be more dif­fi­cult than thought befo­re, as the Nor­we­gi­an coas­tal admin­stra­ti­on aut­ho­ri­ty Kyst­ver­ket reports in a press release. The hull is more sever­ely dama­ged than expec­ted which makes the ope­ra­ti­on accor­ding to the initi­al plan impos­si­ble.

North­gui­der ran aground in late Decem­ber 2018 at Spar­ren­e­set south of Murch­ison­fjord. The ship owner is requi­red to remo­ve the wreck within 2019, but this is now beco­ming doubtful: the polar night is soon to start, the sun will not rise abo­ve the hori­zon any­mo­re for 4 months from late Octo­ber. Ship­ping is not impos­si­ble during the dark sea­son, but if a com­pli­ca­ted sal­va­ging ope­ra­ti­on can be car­ri­ed out safe­ly and suc­cessful­ly wit­hout day­light is an enti­re­ly dif­fe­rent ques­ti­on.

Sal­va­ging ves­sels and the groun­ded traw­ler North­gui­der at Spar­ren­e­set in Hin­lo­pens­tre­tet, August 2019.

The sal­va­ging ves­sels arri­ved on loca­ti­on only rather late in the sum­mer, and then the ope­ra­ti­on was delay­ed repea­ted­ly by seve­re ice and wea­ther con­di­ti­ons. Only recent­ly the wreck could be tur­ned into an upright posi­ti­on and then it beca­me appearent that dama­ges on Northguider’s hull are far more exten­si­ve than expec­ted. An area of 12×5 met­res is said to be impac­ted.

Now all the play­ers invol­ved, inclu­ding the coast guard, Kyst­ver­ket, the ship owner Opi­lio AS, the insu­rance com­pa­ny and the sal­va­ging com­pa­ny SMIT Sal­va­ge have to come up with a new plan. It appears rather unli­kely that this will all hap­pen within 2019. Offi­ci­als have alre­a­dy men­tio­ned post­po­ning the ope­ra­ti­on until 2020 as an opti­on. But if North­gui­der will still be the­re in the sum­mer of 2020, after months on end with ice and seve­re wea­ther, and in a con­di­ti­on that allows remo­ving the wreck, will remain an open ques­ti­on until then.