Name MV Swanland Operator Torbulk Launched 1977 Weight 2,180 tons | Owner Torbulk, Grimsby Christened Carebeka IX (1977) Length 81 m Builder Lemmer | |
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Renamed Elsborg (13 Jan 1983 – 14 Nov 1988)
Artemis (14 Nov 1988 – 16 Dec 1994)
Elsborg (16 Dec 1994 – 12 Aug 1996)
Swanland (12 Aug 1996 – 27 Nov 2011) Identification IMO number 7607431, Callsign E5U2283, MMSI 518333000 | ||
MV Swanland was a bulk carrier.
The ship was built by Bijlsma Lemmer Scheepswerf of Lemmer in the Netherlands in 1977. Originally named Carebeka IX, she was renamed several times. The vessel was last owned and operated as Swanland by Torbulk, a company based in Grimsby, and was registered in the Cook Islands as a flag of convenience. She was 266 feet long and 46 feet wide with a draft of 11 feet, and displaced 2,180 tons.
In 2010, she narrowly avoided grounding off Lizard Point, Cornwall, after her engines failed and she had to be taken in tow by the emergency tow vessel Anglian Princess and towed into Falmouth.
Swanland sank in a gale force 8 storm in the Irish Sea 10 miles off the Lleyn Peninsula, Gwynedd at approximately 0200 on Sunday 27 November 2011. She was carrying limestone from Raynes Jetty near Colwyn Bay to Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
The search and rescue mission was co-ordinated by Holyhead Coastguard and involved RNLI lifeboats from Pwllheli and Porthdinllaen, RAF Sea King search and rescue helicopters of No. 22 Squadron RAF flying out of RAF Valley and Royal Marines Barracks, Chivenor, Irish Naval Service patrol ship LÉ Róisín and an Irish Air Corps Casa maritime patrol aircraft, and Irish Coast Guard helicopters from Dublin, Waterford and Sligo, and other ships in the area – MT Bro Gazelle, MT Monsoon and MT Keewhit.
Two of the Russian crew, Roman Savin (26), and Vitaliy Karpenko (48), were rescued during the sinking with Prince William taking part in the rescue mission. A third crewman, Chief Officer Leonid Safonov (50) was later found dead during a search for survivors. The rescued crew described how a large wave broke the ship's back.
On 11 December 2011 the BBC reported that Swanland had been subject to repeated safety concerns due to unsafe loading and unloading practices that placed may have placed stress on the hull. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) conducted an inquiry into the sinking and published its report on 27 November 2011.