Working in an Offshore weather forecasting department for several years threw up some interesting challenges and the most interesting stories tended to be from maritime salvage companies. These operations could last anywhere from a week to multiple years depending on the complexity of the situation.

One of the most interesting stories was the wreck of the Northguider. This 52m fishing trawler became stranded after it ran aground in the Hinlopen Strait between the two islands of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet in late 2018. The vessel began to list as it quickly started taking on water, and the 14 crew, none of whom were injured, were airlifted to rescue by the Norwegian Coast Guard (Kystvakten) in -20°C temperatures and strong winds. With around 300,000 litres of diesel-oil onboard, enormous damage to the delicate ecosystem of the islands was a real possibility. The vessel eventually came to rest at an acute angle in relatively shallow waters and the task of planning the removal of the vessel slowly started.

Svalbard is located high up in the Arctic Circle at around 80°N and is home to many hundreds of nesting birds as well as Walrus and Polar Bears. The Hinlopen Strait region is difficult to navigate even in the summer without the latest navigation equipment, ice charts and good weather forecasts. This task becomes near impossible in the winter when the pack-ice extends further southwards blocking the northern entrance and intruding further south into the strait.

The salvage operation, led by Smit Salvage, started in late Spring/Summer of 2019 as the ice to the north withdrew from the area. My department provided weather forecasts on a regular basis to the operations but it was a challenging area to forecast for. Firstly, the area being so far north was very close to the northern extent of global weather models – these tend to only provide data up to around 80° North and South which is usually sufficient to cover most activities. Being so close to the model boundary can lead to odd behaviours resulting in strange forecast values making it important to edit the conditions carefully. The second factor was that the Hinlopen Strait is situated between mountainous terrain which can significantly enhance winds, and subsequently waves, when wind direction aligns with the channel – models tend to perform badly in these situations. Thirdly, the area we were forecasting for was very remote so observations were hard to come by – thankfully, we were provided with intermittent observations from the salvage vessels which we could analyse, but having no live observations makes forecasting very tricky.

The final challenge was the ice. In 2019, the salvage companies plan was attempting to refloat the wreck. However, they were obviously very wary of icebergs floating down the strait towards the worksite. Even a small iceberg hitting a barge or the vessel again could result in another incident. Although the ice limit is much further north during the Summer months, consistently strong northerly winds can bring icebergs through the channel towards their position and all work would have to stop. A combination of ice charts provided by the Norwegian Ice Service and Synthetic-aperture radar images obtained from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 polar orbiting satellite were utilised in an attempt to provide a more detailed overview to the team.

Consistently strong winds throughout the working window of the Summer season and the plentiful supply of icebergs from the north resulted in the operation being abandoned in the Autumn of 2019 when the Northguider was, once again, left to the elements during the long Arctic Winter.

The project restarted again in 2020 after the thaw. Although more prolonged windows of weaker winds helped the operation, the salvage team opted to cut the vessel into pieces and remove the trawler by crane-barge – an operation that is less weather sensitive due to the shorter working windows required. The project successfully completed in early Autumn 2020 with the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) suggesting it was likely the most northern wreck removal project ever carried out.

Written by Narborough resident, Will Beazley.

With special thanks to Kystverket (Norwegian Coastal Administration) and Kystvakten (Norwegian Coast Guard) for providing the wonderful images of the Northguider wreck and their permission to use them in this article.