MV ''Protektor'' was a

bulk cargo ship A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic fo ...

that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in January 1991 with the loss of her entire crew. ''Protektor'' was built by

Flender Werke Flender Werke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Lübeck. It was founded in 1917 as a branch of Brückenbau Flender AG of Benrath on the Rhine. In 1926 it was made a fully independent business and renamed Lübecker Flenderwerke AG. It ...

in Lübeck, Germany. She was launched on 17 December 1966 and delivered on 22 March 1967, bearing the name ''Ursula Schulte'' and sailing under the German flag. In 1978, she was renamed ''Protektor'', and was registered in Singapore at the time of her loss. She had a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

of 43,218 GT and a deadweight tonnage of 78,918 DWT, and measured in length, with a beam of . She was powered by a single diesel engine that gave her a speed of . In January 1991, ''Protektor'' was sailing eastbound from Port-Cartier, Quebec to Oxelösund, Sweden with a cargo of iron ore when she ran into a severe winter storm about southeast of Newfoundland. Early on the morning of 13 January, the crew made a distress call indicating that the ship's cargo hold had been breached and she was taking on water, leading the crew to prepare to abandon ship. The

Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

dispatched a search plane, but radio contact was lost with ''Protektor'' before she was ever located. A search effort continued, but with severe weather remaining in the area it was called off at the end of the following day, with all 33 crew members presumed dead.

References

Maritime incidents in 1991 1966 ships Bulk carriers Ships built in Lübeck {{DEFAULTSORT:Protektor