Crippled trawler under tow

A Russian trawler with 36 crew on board found itself in trouble this morning off Norway’s Versterålen after fishing gear fouled the trawler’s propeller.

With hurricane force winds blowing off the Norwegian coast and under heavy sea conditions, Coastguard vessel Sortland responded to the distress call at 0440 this morning and had Sevryba 1 under tow by 0900, reports Lofotposten.

Sortland and Sevryba 1 are making progress and expect to be in more sheltered waters inside Hadselfjord later today after an expected tow time of eight to ten hours.