A recently refurbished vessel that once sailed along Norway’s coast in the popular Hurtigruten fleet grounded off Haugesund Monday night, and police were on board to investigate Tuesday morning. Three crew members in charge of navigation were subject to drug- and alcohol testing.
There were no passengers on board the classic old Nordstjernen, which was taken out of service in the Hurtigruten fleet last year. It’s now owned by private interests in Bergen, and had just been upgraded at a shipyard in Poland under the supervision of the historic preservation agency in Norway, Riksantikvaren.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the vessel was sailing back to Bergen when it rammed into rocks during the night at what a coast guard official said was likely a rather high speed. No one was injured but the grounding punched holes in two or three ballast tanks and the bow was dented. There was no sign of any oil spill but the vessel must return to a shipyard for repairs.
Tug boats managed to pull the vessel off the rocks just after 7am.
newsinenglish.no staff
