An engine problem on a Danish-managed cargoship led to bridges being swiftly raised off Sweden.
The 3,000-dwt Rix Emerald (built 1995) hit the headlines when the national public television channel reported the vessel sped down the Gota River last Friday.
The ship then proceeded to Scotland, where The Courier daily reported that officers from the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) were asked by their Scandinavian counterparts to board it at Montrose.
No serious problems were found, however.
Danish media cited an employee of the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) as saying: "The problem was that when they put the machine at half power forward or back, the ship gained too much speed, and when they would slow down, it instead became full power forward or back."
Pekka Piirainen, a duty officer with the SMA, confirmed to The Courier he received a call from the pilot office stating there was a problem with the vessel’s main engine.
Rude response?
He said: “I phoned the captain on board. He said there was no problem and hung up.
“It is the first time in my 30 years in the profession that I have been involved with something so rude.”
An MCA spokesperson told the newspaper: “We were alerted by the Swedish Maritime Administration that the vessel Rix Emerald had left Sweden with its engine not fully operational.
“We were also told the vessel was on her way to Montrose and the vessel’s Automatic Identification System was not in operation after passing Skaagen in Denmark.
“In addition this information was uploaded by the SMA on to the port state control inspection database which means it is visible to all port states."
No detainable deficiencies
“The vessel was inspected by MCA inspectors at Montrose,” she added.
“The inspection resulted in a few deficiencies, none of which are detainable.”
Neither Danish operator Baltic Shipping Company nor manager Rix Shipmanagement in Latvia responded to TradeWinds' requests for comment.
The ship was underway off Norway on Friday.
In January, Rix Emerald ran aground outside Landskrona, Sweden.
No hull damage was caused.
A preliminary police investigation was closed without a cause emerging.
