RON JEREMY – sinking of towing vessel, off the coast of Piteå

Summary

On 1 June 2025, the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) was notified of a serious maritime accident involving the tugboat RON JEREMY (SMBU), which sank south of Rödkallen off the coast of Piteå. The vessel, built in 1930, was towing a barge loaded with timber from Hindersön to Piteå. The crew consisted of four persons.

The waters around Hindersön were shallow and poorly charted. Six hours after departure, the crew discovered that the vessel had developed a starboard list and water was accumulating on the starboard side of the aft deck. Despite various attempts to correct the list, the situation worsened. The crew did not realise that the vessel was taking in water, which led to a delayed evacuation.

When the order to abandon ship was finally given, the crew did not have time to carry out a safe evacuation. The vessel capsized and sank stern-first, pulling all four crew members underwater. Three survived by reaching the barge and were rescued; one crew member was later found deceased inside the upper part of the engine room.

The vessel had recently been refurbished and certified, but some deficiencies remained. The crew had not practised evacuation since boarding. The accident resulted in the total loss of the vessel, minor diesel pollution, and one fatality.

Causes of the accident

The direct cause of the sinking was that a large amount of water entered one of the vessel’s watertight compartments, most likely as a result of a minor hull damage. As the bilge alarm in the compartment was out of order, the crew did not notice the water ingress.

Contributing factors to the accident:
• No systematic troubleshooting was carried out to determine what might have caused the list.
• The crew had limited knowledge of the vessel’s technical systems and stability characteristics.
• The high workload and stress during the incident affected the crew’s situational awareness.

Taken together, this meant that the crew did not realise that the vessel was taking in water and was in the process of sinking. As a result, evacuation was initiated at a late stage and the crew did not have time to prepare for a safe evacuation.

Safety recommendations

SHK submits the following recommendations:

The shipping company T. Ekstrand Sjötjänst AB is recommended to:
• take measures to strengthen the crew’s knowledge of the vessel’s equipment and systems, as well as their ability to act in emergency situations.