MV ''Finnbirch'' was a

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 ...

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

(ro-ro) ship built in 1978 as ''Stena Prosper''.

History

''Finnbirch'' was built at

Hyundai Heavy Industries HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI; ) is the world's largest shipbuilding company and a major heavy equipment manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Ulsan, South Korea. History HHI was founded in 1972 by Chung Ju-yung as a division ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and delivered to her owners

Stena RoRo The Stena Sphere consists of the three parent companies, Stena AB, Stena Sessan AB and Stena Metall AB, wholly owned by the Olsson family. Together they make up one of Sweden’s largest family-owned corporate groups. The group’s revenue is 96 b ...

on 2 February 1978. In 1988 the ship was sold to Finnish Rettig, and in 1995 to Bore Line. In 1999, in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

acquired the ship and kept it until it foundered. Lindholm Shipping, Strömma Turism & Sjöfart AB was the last owner of ''Finnbirch'' and her sister ship ''Finnforest''. Both vessels were in timecharter for the Finnish company

Finnlines Finnlines Plc (, ) is a shipping operator of Roll-on/roll-off, ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Celtic Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Balt ...

Plc at the time of the sinking.Lindholm Shipping home page

Sinking

On 1 November 2006, the ship sank on the east coast of Sweden. At the time of the sinking, ''Finnbirch'' had a crew of 14, of four Swedes and ten

Filipinos Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...

. The ship capsized in a heavy storm which also set an oil rig adrift. The crew were seen sitting on the ship's hull, but the storm prevented rescue boats from reaching the scene and it was too dangerous to lower the helicopter crew onto the violently pitching hull. All but two of the men were eventually rescued after jumping into the sea once the ship had capsized. One of the Filipino crew members died in the hospital after his rescue suit failed and a Swede drowned after being entangled in the wreck. The master of the ship broke several bones after falling, but survived. On 7 November 2006, the Merchant Marine Officers' Association criticized the rescue, stating that the helicopter had been circling overhead whilst the crew members sat on the hull waiting to be rescued. MV Finnbirch

Sister Ships

The ''Finnbirch'' has 10 sister ships, these are; * * * * * * * * * *

History

Sinking

Sister Ships

References

See also