Hagland-Saga

The police has almost finished its investigation after the allisoin of the "Hagland Saga"with a beacon in the approach to Kragerø at Easter. It will soon be decided whether the captain and first officer will be prosecuted in the case. Both the captain and the first officer of the vessel have the status of being accused after the incident. The Chief Officer is being charged under a section of the Ship Safety Act, to have navigated negligently before the lighthouse was hit. He had suffered a bone fracture in the powerful impact.He was accused not to have awakened the captain in time off Kragerø. He returned to the Philippines shortly after he was released from hospital and questioned by police with the help of an interpreter, but could not give a clear reason why the ship ended up on the lighthouse at Knubbhausen. The Norwegian captain was accused of not having called a pilot which is obligatory for all vessels over 70 meters length when approaching Norwegian ports. Further questioning of the captain was still to be carried out. A police lawyer then has to decide whether the captain and the first officer will be charged when the investigation is completed. A fine is the normal sanction in such cases. The potential risk of environmental damage in connection with the incident will have to be taken into consideration. Norwegian report with photo: http://www.ta.no/nyheter/vestmar/article5620737.ece

In the night of Apr 24, 2011, the "Hagland Saga" ran aground at the approach to Kragerø. No one was injured and no oil leakage was observed. In the early morning the "Hagland Saga" got stuck on the Knubbehausen reef off Kragerø which is marked with a light. The ship had a crew of eight with a Norwegian captain and the rest coming from the Philippines and Latvia. Tree crew members wree slightly injured and taken to a hospital at Kragerø by ambulance. The ship was able to refloat with own power and subsequently entered the port.