A woman and a child died late Tuesday evening, when a pleasure boat likely collided with a merchant ship.
Boat accidents of this type are unusual, notes Fredrik Hjorth.
It's not unusual for merchant ships and pleasure boats to end up close to each other during the summer, but for it to go this badly is very rare.
Certain parts of the sequence of events have been established, including when the first emergency call came in and at what time the man and the other child who were on the pleasure boat were rescued from the water.
Unanswered questions
But many questions remain unanswered. Fredrik Hjorth points to two aspects that he is particularly curious about, and at the same time emphasizes that he does not want to blame anyone in a situation where much is still unknown.
"One thing is that it was a small pleasure boat that was involved, one that you can maneuver very quickly, for example, you can turn quickly. That's why it's strange that people don't seem to have noticed the ship," he says.
Then I also think it's strange from the ship's perspective. You have to know that there is a lot of recreational boat traffic in the area. If the weather is a bit bad, there may not be as many recreational boats out as usual, but you have to be aware that it is an area rich in recreational boats, says Hjorth.
Audio recordings from the crew
He points out that the radar systems may have been affected by the bad weather, but that those responsible on ships should also have a visual overview of the immediate area, for example using binoculars.
On Friday morning, prosecutors announced that the ship's captain was suspected of a crime and had been arrested. Shortly before that, it became clear that the Swedish Maritime Accident Investigation Board, which is investigating the accident, had downloaded the contents of the ship's black box.
This means that you get access to the information that the ship had, including recordings of the radar system, speed and audio recordings of what was said up on the bridge at the time. It will be interesting to take a look at, because it shows what they (the crew on the bridge) had in their minds at the time.
