Water-bus runs aground and sinks near Vaasa
All 22 people and two dogs on board rescued by passing boats
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On Tuesday morning, the water-bus M/S Ida, transporting tourists to the island of Mikkelinsaari near Vaasa, ran aground and later sank entirely off the island of Replot (Raippaluoto in Finnish, though the area is Swedish-speaking) in the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia.
At the time of the incident - 11:15 am - the Ida, which had set off from the Fjärdskär harbour near Replot Bridge, had 22 passengers and two dogs on board.
All of them were rescued by private persons in other small pleasure-boats in the vicinity, who arrived on the scene within a couple of minutes, taking the passengers to an adjacent island.
The Ida hit a reef so quickly that the sudden crash sent the passengers tumbling off their seats.
The stern of the vessel started taking on water and sinking immediately, whereupon the passengers put on life-vests and moved to the bow, which was still above the surface. Two persons were slightly injured.
According to police, the vessel apparently passed the wrong side of a sea mark.
The sinking place of the M/S Ida is located about four nautical miles north of the Replot Bridge. The vessel had left the island of Fjärdskär 15 minutes earlier at 11:00.
A number of rescue vessels from the Finnish Coast Guard and the Emergency Response Centre also arrived promptly, transporting the passengers back to the Fjärdskär harbour.
Helsingin Sanomat
