Herakles (pusher)
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''Herakles'' was a pusher vessel owned by Finnish towing and
marine salvage Marine salvage is the process of recovering a ship and its cargo after a shipwreck or other maritime casualty. Salvage may encompass towing, lifting a vessel, or effecting repairs to a ship. Salvors are normally paid for their efforts. Howev ...
company Alfons HÃ¥kans Oy Ab. The ship, originally built as
salvage tug A salvage tug, also known historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...
''Into'' in 1967, was converted to a pusher in 1991 to be chartered to Rautaruukki Oyj and later ESL Shipping Ltd as the third pusher vessel for the '' Finnpusku'' system, a Finnish integrated tug and barge system built in the mid-80s. On 2 March 2004, while heading north with barge '' Bulk'' fully laden with coal, ''Herakles'' ran into trouble in the
Bothnian Sea The Bothnian Sea (; ) links the Bothnian Bay (also called the Bay of Bothnia) with the Baltic Sea, Baltic proper. Kvarken is situated between the two. Together, the Bothnian Sea and Bay make up a larger geographical entity, the Gulf of Bothnia, ...
when both of her main engines began to fail in heavy weather. After the crew was evacuated the combination drifted to the shallows near
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Grundkallen lighthouse and was completely destroyed.


Career

The vessel began her life as salvage tug ''Into'' and was delivered to the Finnish oil and petroleum products company
Neste Oy Neste Oyj (international name: Neste Corporation; former names Neste Oil Corporation and Fortum Oil and Gas Oy; ) is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. It produces, refines and markets oil products, provides eng ...
by Oy Laivateollisuus Ab in October 1967.Laiva 3/2003. Page 7. In 1982 she was purchased by Oy Hangon Hinaus Ab, a marine salvage company recently acquired by Effoa. In the same year the ownership of the company was transferred to Neptun, another Finnish marine salvage company in which Effoa had been a major shareholder since 1917. The two companies merged in the following year, after which Neptun changed its name to Oy Hangon Hinaus Ab.Pörssitieto Ky1912–72 lakanneet pörssiyhtiöt A–J
When Effoa gave up salvage business in 1988 and sold Oy Hangon Hinaus Ab to Alfons HÃ¥kans Oy Ab, ''Into'' was renamed ''Herakles''.Alfons HÃ¥kans
.
As part of a restructuring of the company Alfons HÃ¥kans converted two tugboats to become pushers and established a charter contract with Rautaruukki Oyj. In 1991 ''Herakles'' was refitted with a new bridge and coupling devices by Oy Laivateollisuus Ab in Turku, the same shipyard where she was originally built, and became the third pusher for the Finnish integrated tug barge system, ''Finnpusku'', which is used to transport raw materials to the
steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...
s of Rautaruukki Oyj. When the pushers and barges of the ''Finnpusku'' system were sold to ESL Shipping Ltd in 2003, ''Herakles'' continued her charter as part of the transport system until her demise in 2004.


Technical details

As built, ''Into'' was fitted out with standard towing equipment, including a 700 kN towing hook, 245 kN towing winch and of towing cable (⌀ ). Propulsion power was provided by two 6-cylinder
Ruston & Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of Narrow-gauge railway, narrow and Standard-gauge railway, standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...
ATCM 4-stroke diesel engines, each producing , driving two propellers, giving the tug a service speed of 13 knots and bollard pull of 255 kN. For manoeuvring she also had a bow thruster. Being a salvage tug, ''Into'' also had VK 150/6000 water and foam monitors with a range of .Vapalahti, H: Finnish illustrated List of Ships 1987. Merikustannus, 1987.


Conversion to pusher

In 1991 ''Herakles'' was converted to a pusher vessel by Oy Laivateollisuus Ab, Turku. The conversion also included refitting the existing barges with new coupling devices since ''Herakles'', having considerably smaller breadth than the original ''Finnpusku'' pushers and a different hull shape, was incompatible with the original rigid three-point
Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...
Marine Locomotive coupling. ''Herakles'' and the barges were fitted with
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese Articouple K articulated coupling system that, by forming a hinge between the two vessels, allowed free pitching of the tug relative to the barge.Articouple & Triofix
(Taisei Engineering Consultants, Inc.)

Navamec Oy: Description of the conversion The most visible change to ''Herakles'' was a new wheelhouse installed on top of a cylindrical pillar housing a spiral staircase, above the old superstructure. The original bridge was retained in full operating condition and could be used when the vessel was not pushing a barge. The forecastle was modified and strengthened to accept Articouple KD-350S hydraulic couplers, later installed in
Turku Repair Yard Turku Repair Yard Ltd (; ) is a Finnish ship repair company. Its premises are situated in Luonnonmaa island, Naantali. The company has focused on repairing of ships and boats. Turku Repair Yard is a part of Estonian BLRT Grupp. Premises Th ...
, on both sides of the superstructure. Other changes included the removal of the towing winch and installation of a new auxiliary diesel generator,
Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
DITA 3512 producing , inside the former cargo hold aft of the superstructure to power the bow thruster of the barge. The propulsion gear was upgraded by installing new rudders, steering gear,
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EZR elastic couplings,
KaMeWa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KM ...
propeller blades and propeller ducts. The total cost of the conversion was
FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...
10 million.Bogserare konverterad till pusher. Svensk Sjöfarts Tidning 36/1991. The conversion increased her gross and
net tonnage Net tonnage (NT, N.T. or nt) is a dimensionless index calculated from the total moulded volume of the ship's cargo spaces by using a mathematical formula. Defined in ''The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships'' that was adopte ...
from 600 GT and 180 NT to 621 GT and 187 NT, respectively. The refitted pusher was classified by
Det Norske Veritas Det Norske Veritas (DNV), formerly DNV GL, is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. DNV provides services for several industries, including maritime, oil and gas, renewable energy, e ...
with class notation +1A1 R280 Pusher/Tug ECO ICE 1B, meaning that her
Finnish-Swedish ice class Finnish-Swedish ice class is an ice class assigned to a vessel operating in first-year ice in the Baltic Sea and calling at Finland, Finnish or Sweden, Swedish ports. Ships are divided into six ice classes based on requirements for hull structura ...
was reduced to 1B from the original 1A. The remaining towing and salvage equipment was retained for some time after the conversion so that, if necessary, Herakles could perform normal tug duties while not employed as a pusher. However, it appears that they were later removed completely as the towing gear was no longer listed for ''Herakles'' on Alfons HÃ¥kans's website unlike with the rest of the tug fleet, making her purely a pusher vessel.


Engine upgrade

In 1995 ''Herakles'' received new main engines, reduction gears, propeller shafts and propellers in Turku. The old Ruston & Hornsby diesel engines were replaced with two Caterpillar 3606 DITA medium speed diesel engines delivering each, nearly twice the power of the old main engines. New controllable pitch propellers, propeller ducts, reduction gears and clutches were provided by
Ulstein Ulstein may refer to: Business *Ulstein Group, a group of various marine-related industries, mainly known for shipbuilding and design *Ulstein Verft, a Norwegian shipyard Places *Ulstein Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Nor ...
. While this upgrade greatly improved her operational capabilities and increased her bollard pull to 588 kN, she still remained underpowered in comparison with the original ''Finnpusku'' pushers.


Sinking

''Herakles'' sank along with the barge ''Bulk'' on 3 March 2004 at around 00:30 (
UTC+02 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
) in the Bothnian Sea. The combination, referred to as ''Herakles-Bulk'', had left
Oxelösund Oxelösund is a locality and the seat of Oxelösund Municipality in Södermanland County, Sweden with 11,488 inhabitants in 2018. It is located less than south from the city centre of its larger neighbour, Nyköping, with the two urban areas form ...
, Sweden, two days earlier and was heading north with the barge fully laden with coal. On 2 March she ran into a storm and the
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
, not certain if the vessel could safely be turned around in such a sea state to seek shelter closer to the coast, decided to evacuate half of the crew by helicopter. When the port engine began overheating and later the starboard engine lost all power, ''Herakles-Bulk'' was no longer able to keep the bow into the wind and began to drift uncontrollably in the storm. The remaining crew was soon evacuated and shortly afterwards the combination foundered in the shallows near Grundkallen lighthouse. While there were no deaths, both vessels became total losses and the fuel oil from the ruptured fuel tanks polluted Finnish and Swedish coastlines. The sinking of ''Herakles-Bulk'' was the second major accident involving the vessels of the ''Finnpusku'' system. In 1990 pusher '' Finn''
capsized Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fr ...
with barge ''
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
'' outside
Hanko Hanko may refer to Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland * Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid 2299 Hanko Other uses * August Hanko (military personnel), German First World War flying a ...
, Finland, with a loss of eight lives after her cargo of
ore concentrate Ore concentrate, dressed ore or simply concentrate is the product generally produced by metal ore mines. The raw ore is usually ground finely in various comminution operations and gangue (waste) is removed, thus concentrating the metal component. ...
shifted in heavy weather.Onnettomuustutkintakeskus
Puskija FINNin ja proomu BALTICin kaatuminen Hangon edustalla 27.12.1990
/ref> In the past ''Herakles'' had been involved in several dangerous situations in heavy weather, including one in January 2002 in which four crew members were evacuated by an
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
n helicopter before the captain attempted to turn the combination to the wind near the Estonian coast.


Timeline of events

On 1 March 2004 ''Herakles-Bulk'' left Oxelösund where she had stopped while en route from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
to
Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...
with a cargo of 13,259.9 metric tons of coal. The combination was heading north towards the edge of ice where she was supposed to rendezvous with pusher ''
Rautaruukki Rautaruukki Oyj, using the marketing name Ruukki, is a Finnish company, headquartered in Helsinki, which manufactures and supplies metal-based components and systems to the construction and engineering industries. In 2014 Swedish SSAB bought Ru ...
'' coming from
Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...
, Sweden, switch to an empty barge and head back south. According to the weather forecast received two days earlier the strongest winds the ship would face would be , but after leaving Oxelösund another forecast was received, this time with maximum wind speed between . Later the
chief officer A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the ship ...
noted to the captain that in the past the ship had sought shelter after receiving weather forecasts of this kind. Several sheltered locations had been marked to the nautical charts by the second officer, the closest being near
Eckerö Eckerö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish an ...
in
Ã…land Ã…land ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
. The captain decided to keep heading north, but after passing Grundkallen lighthouse the ship would head closer to the sheltered waters of the Swedish coast. ''Herakles-Bulk'' passed the Swedish lighthouse
Svenska Björn Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
at 04:00 the following night, encountering only a fresh westerly breeze in which the combination could maintain a speed of . In the following morning the wind turned north and began to pick up, reducing the speed of the ship. After passing Märketskallen at 10:05 water began to enter the cargo hold over the forecastle and, as the waves gradually grew higher, the speed of the combination continued to drop until it was less than at 13:00. At 15:00 steering was switched to manual mode since the autopilot could no longer be used and full engine power was required to maintain heading in such conditions. ''Herakles-Bulk'' was pushing the headwinds of according to its own
anemometer In meteorology, an anemometer () is a device that measures wind speed and direction. It is a common instrument used in weather stations. The earliest known description of an anemometer was by Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti ...
while barely maintaining a speed of . The electrical cables and fuel pipes connecting the pusher to the barge were unplugged to prevent them from being damaged or damaging the ship as the pusher pitched violently within the notch. At 15:30 the operational management of the shipping company inquired about the situation and it was decided that company would contact the
maritime rescue co-ordination centre The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (HKMRCC) is responsible for coordinating air-sea rescue in Hong Kong and an extensive area of the South China Sea. Besides the territorial waters of Hong Kong, the area includes international wa ...
(MRCC) which, in turn, would later contact the ship. When MRCC Turku contacted ''Herakles-Bulk'' at 15:51, the captain said that he was not sure if the bow could be kept facing the wind. He then decided to send half of the crew off the ship because there would be a danger of the vessel capsizing if the combination turned broadside to the wind. At 19:00 overheating alarm was received from the cooling water system of the port main engine and its power had to be reduced to half. At times the engine had to be run at full power for short periods of time to keep the bow facing the wind. Shortly after 22:00 the speed of the starboard main engine suddenly dropped from 1,000 rpm to roughly 270 rpm, but was restored when the engine was declutched from the shaft. When the
second engineer A second engineer or first assistant engineer is a licensed member of the engineering department on a merchant vessel. This title is used for the person on a ship responsible for supervising the daily maintenance and operation of the engine depa ...
closed the clutch at the normal coupling speed of 400 rpm, the engine
stalled ''Stalled'' is a 2013 British zombie comedy film directed by Christian James. It stars Dan Palmer, who also wrote the screenplay, as a man confined to a bathroom stall after zombies attack. Produced by Richard Kerrigan and Daniel Pickering, the ...
. After restarting he attempted coupling the engine again at 1,000 rpm, but it still would not run faster than 270 rpm when connected to the shaft. When the captain received a report that the starboard main engine was no longer usable he decided to abandon the ship and ordered the evacuation of the remaining crew at 22:16. The combination turned parallel to the waves with port side facing the wind and began to drift uncontrollably. After the rest of the crew had been evacuated ''Herakles-Bulk'' drifted to the shallows and sank near the Grundkallen lighthouse on 3 March 2004 at about 00:30.


Evacuation

When the captain made the decision to evacuate the
chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "Chief" or "ChEng", is the most senior licensed mariner (engine officer) of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that departmen ...
, who was suffering from
gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...
, the
chief steward A chief steward is the senior crew member working in the steward's department of a ship. Since there is no purser on most ships in the United States Merchant Marine, the steward is the senior person in the department, whence its name. In the Br ...
and two members of the deck crew, MRCC Turku gave the evacuation mission to
Finnish Border Guard The Finnish Border Guard (FBG, ; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. Duties Main duties of the Finnish Border Guard: * Protecting the land borders and territorial waters of Finland from unauthorised e ...
Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engined, medium-sized, utility helicopter developed and initially produced by French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactur ...
''OH-HVF'' which was returning from previous mission and still had more than two hours of remaining flight time. MRCC Göteborg authorized the Finnish helicopter to enter Swedish airspace as the combination was six miles into the Swedish territorial waters. The helicopter arrived and began lifting the crew members from the rear part of the cargo hold at around 16:50, a task that was very difficult due to pitching and rolling of the combination. The crew was brought to
Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Ã…land, and 40% of the population of Ã…land live in the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...
where they were supposed to spend the night and then return to the ship in the morning. They didn't learn until morning that the combination had sunk. Although ''Herakles-Bulk'' did not declare an emergency or send a distress signal, MRCC Turku asked the Swedish search and rescue helicopters to maintain readiness in case the remaining crew had to be evacuated. Another Super Puma operated by the Finnish Border Guard, ''OH-HVG'', took off from Turku and, after flying past ''Herakles-Bulk'', landed in Mariehamn to wait with its engines running. The Finnish helicopter performed another flyby after the port engine began overheating. MRCC Turku handed over the operational responsibility to MRCC Göteborg at 21:58 and shortly afterwards ''Herakles-Bulk'' requested the evacuation of the remaining crew. MRCC Göteborg gave the mission to ''OH-HVG'', but MRCC Turku requested a Swedish
search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
helicopter ''Rescue 996'', a
Sikorsky S-76 The Sikorsky S-76 is a medium-size commercial utility helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It is the company's first helicopter specifically developed for the civilian market. The S-76 ...
operated by Norrlandsflyg from
Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...
, to be sent to the scene to assist with the evacuation. When ''OH-HVG'' arrived on the scene at 22:45, it was decided to lift the remaining crew members, the chief officer, the second officer and the second engineer, from the sea due to the large motions of the drifting combination. ''Herakles-Bulk'' was just two cable lengths () from the Grundkallen lighthouse when the captain left the ship. As he and the Finnish
rescue swimmer Rescue swimmer is a qualification given to rescue specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. Rescue swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the l ...
were engulfed by a wave, the cable was severed and both men had to be rescued by the Swedish helicopter.


Causes

The foundering of ''Herakles-Bulk'' was a result of loss of steering ability which was caused by malfunctions in the main engines due to severe weather conditions. Since no engine parts were recovered from the wreck, the investigation board could not determine a definite cause of the engine problems.


Engine failure

The most likely reason for the overheating of the port engine was the
plate heat exchanger A plate heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that uses metal plates to transfer heat between two fluids. This has a major advantage over a conventional heat exchanger in that the fluids are exposed to a much larger surface area because the f ...
getting clogged by small pieces of coal that had washed overboard from the cargo hold and entered the cooling system via the port side sea chest. The starboard engine was not affected because it used a separate sea water intake in the bottom of the vessel. Another possible cause was the development of hairline cracks in the
cylinder liner In an engine, the cylinder is the space in which a piston travels. The inner surface of the cylinder is formed from either a thin metallic liner (also called "sleeve") or a surface coating applied to the engine block. A piston is seated inside e ...
or
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
due to large variations in engine load, allowing hot exhaust gases to mix with the cooling water. Since the starboard engine ran normally after it was decoupled from the reduction gear, a likely reason for the sudden drop of engine speed from 1,000 to 270 rpm and subsequent stalling when reconnected was increased load in the propulsion system due to damaged shaft bearing or a foreign object, perhaps something that had fallen from the deck, wedged in the propeller duct, although malfunction in the fuel supply and lubrication system due to the violent pitching of the vessel were not ruled out.


Weather conditions

On 2 March 2004 the weather in the Bothnian Sea gradually developed into a force 10 storm on the
Beaufort scale The Beaufort scale ( ) is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. It was devised in 1805 by Francis Beaufort a hydrographer in the Royal Navy. It ...
, with average wind speed around and gusts exceeding . At midnight, shortly before ''Herakles-Bulk'' sank, the ten-minute average at Svenska Högarn was with three-second gusts of almost . The freezing temperatures combined with strong wind and high waves resulted in fast icing of the ship structures. In 1992 the Finnish Maritime Administration issued a wind limit of for ''Herakles'' due to the pusher's low engine power and poor performance in heavy weather. The shipping company also had its own instructions regarding the safe operation of the pusher-barge combination. The wind limit was removed in 1993 for cargoes other than the ore concentrate by the Finnish Maritime Administration, but captains were obliged to follow the instructions given by the shipping company. The captain of ''Herakles-Bulk'' was aware of the limitations given in the past, but thought that they had been revoked after the engine upgrade in 1995. According to him and the rest of the crew the pusher had successfully sailed in similar or even heavier weather in the past.


Aftermath


The wreck

As the wreck was later inspected it was found out that when the combination sank, the coupling devices failed and ''Herakles'' separated from ''Bulk''. The pusher, found lying on its starboard side in the depth of , apparently capsized while still within the notch of the barge. The superstructure was torn away and the upper wheelhouse was not found. The hull had ruptured and half of the engine room was destroyed, scattering pieces of machinery in a large area around the site. The barge had broken in two, with an approximately long section lying on an even keel only tens of metres from the lighthouse. Part of the side structure and a ramp protrude above the surface. Another section, approximately long, was about south-southeast from the lighthouse, with the forecastle of the barge protruding in an oblique angle above the surface. The cargo of coal had disappeared from the hold.Swedish Maritime Administration
Notices to Mariners, SWEDEN, Nr 87 (2005-10-12)
.
The wrecks do not pose a hazard to navigation.Tornator 2/04. ''Herakles'' and ''Bulk'' were removed from the Finnish merchant fleet on 13 January 2009.Finnish Maritime Administration
Monthly statistics for the merchant marine, February 2009
Grundkallen lighthouse received superficial damage when the combination collided with it.


Environmental damage

According to the tank situation report filed by the shipping company ''Herakles'' contained approximately of
marine gas oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine fuel ...
(MGO) in eight fuel tanks, of lubrication oil and of
hydraulic oil A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backhoes ...
at the time of the sinking. There were also 70 tons (approximately ) of
heavy fuel oil Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is a category of fuel oils of a tar-like consistency. Also known as bunker fuel, or residual fuel oil, HFO is the result or remnant from the distillation and cracking process of petroleum. For this reason, HFO contains seve ...
and of marine gas oil in the fuel storage tanks of ''Bulk'', and some fuel and lubrication oil in the generator room."Herakles" vrak lokaliserad. Svensk Sjöfarts Tidning 5/04. On 4 March, one day after the sinking,
Swedish Coast Guard The Swedish Coast Guard () is a Sweden, Swedish civilian Government agencies in Sweden, government agency tasked with: * maritime surveillance and other control and inspection tasks as well as environmental cleanup after oil spills at sea. * co-o ...
arrived on the scene and on the following day sent a
remotely operated vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other g ...
to search for oil in the wreck. Alfons Håkans's own tugboat '' Turso'' also arrived at the scene on 6 March and divers were sent to assess the damage of the wreck. Difficult ice conditions stopped the diving operations several times. Swedish Coast Guard detected an oil slick with an approximate diameter of drifting west of the island of Bodskär on 8 March. Clean-up began on the following day from the shores of Bodskär, Rödskär and Garpen islands where oily ice was collected into containers to be melted. During the following days several vessels of the Swedish Coast Guard arrived at the scene and began the difficult task of collecting and separating oil that had mixed with
drift ice Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift (navigation), difference between heading and course of a vessel * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** D ...
. By 17 March three vessels had managed to collect only of heavy fuel oil. Later more oil was also found around Hållet and Blåbådan. Some heavy fuel oil from ''Bulk'' and
flotsam In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are terms for various types of property lost or abandoned at sea. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A ...
was also found on the shores of various islands near Eckerö in April. Later inspections revealed that nearly all tanks in both ''Herakles'' and ''Bulk'' had ruptured, spilling their contents to the sea. On 1 April ''Turso'' removed approximately of fuel oil and of hydraulic oil from the generator room of the barge, but in the end some 200 tons of oil remained in the sea.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herakles 1967 ships Towboats Ships built in Turku Maritime incidents in 2004 Shipwrecks of Sweden Ships sunk with no fatalities