Suomenlinna ferry in yet another collision

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The Suomenlinna II ferry collided with the pier at the fortress island of Suomenlinna at half past three on Thursday afternoon. The quay was quite badly damaged, but the passengers were in no danger and nobody was hurt in the collision, according to a report by the Suomenlinna coastguard station.
      This was the vessel’s second collision within a week, and the cause was the same as on last Tuesday: the autopilot was on too long. When approaching the quay, it would be easier to steer the ferry by manual control, explained Aki Tiainen of the Suomenlinna coastguard station.
     
Ove Hagerlund of the Finnish Maritime Administration says that the ferry cannot be regarded as safe if it frequently collides with the quay. Therefore, the Suomenlinna II will be kept out of service until the cause of its problems has been unravelled.
      On the other hand, Hagerlund noticed that apparently this time the problem is behind the wheel and not in the vessel itself.
      The ferry was ordered out of service on Thursday, and the maritime authorities were to examine the safety of the vessel on Friday morning. If no defect can be found, the vessel is likely to continue carrying passengers. Until then, the ferry service between the Helsinki city centre and the island of Suomenlinna will be run by other vessels of the public utility company Suomenlinnan Liikenne.
      The Suomenlinna II was taken out of service already in August, until the cause of the ferry’s persistent electrical faults could be ascertained. Later on the ferry was allowed to return to regular scheduled use.
      The ill-fated vessel started carrying passengers to and from Suomenlinna, nowadays a popular tourist attraction off the Helsinki shoreline, at the beginning of this summer. 


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish Maritime Administration orders new Suomenlinna ferry out of service (13.8.2004)
  Suomenlinna: The most popular stone suburb in Helsinki (21.10.2003)

Helsingin Sanomat