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The 26th November 1999 I was a passenger on Sleipner when it sank, as you can read about in "Alive". There were two attempts at raising the boat; The first one failed and added to the damages the ferry had, while the second attempt in August 2000 was successful.
The 27th August I was back to see.
Seen a bit from the distance, it looks small. Not as large as I remembered it, but then again, the bow is gone. Some of it broke off in the accident, some after the failed attempt to raise the boat.
Closer we see the markings on the hull, measuring the length in meters. The numbers are based on the original length of the undamaged boat, so we see that 15 meters of the bow is gone. With the boat originally 34/35 meters long, what we see here is just half of it...
Seeing from behind, under the boat. The damages you see on the starboard hull is from the failed attempt to raise it.
A close up view of the starboard side. Not pretty.
And a view from the front. It was hard to tell, but I was sitting around here...
We could also go aboard, and here I'm standing at the exact same spot as I did when we went under the fateful day. It felt a lot better to stay there this time...
This was the sight that met us when we entered the salon; A total mess. This picture can't do the view justice, and what met us below was worse...
Here we're below. In the middle of the picture you see the main staircase up to the upper salon. I was standing on top of that a long while and see the water rise...
A closer view of the staircase.
Turning around we see the shelves where the luggage was stored - or where the shelves were supposed to be. This was where we first retreated to safety, as the salon was broken up and wrecked.
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A truly memorable day - it was a special experience to be back on Sleipner and see how it looked now.
It's something I'll always remember, about an accident I'll never forget.
A day with many emotions
A day to remember.
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