The Viking Islay

A tragedy at sea affects the lives of many people. The pastoral care offered by port chaplains is a vital support at such times.

On Sunday 23 September, Fr Colum Kelly, AOS chaplain to the port of Immingham, received news of an accident onboard the Viking Islay, a standby vessel which serves a gas rig in the North Sea. Three seafarers had been airlifted to hospital and the ship was proceeding to Immingham. Shortly after, news came that the three injured seafarers had been pronounced dead on arrival.

The incident had occurred when the three men were securing an anchor chain in the bow of the ship. As soon as the ship arrived in port, it became a crime scene. Access was restricted to the police, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the chaplain. The remaining nine crew members, who were of British and Polish nationalities, were in deep shock. Not only had they lost three friends, but the circumstances of their deaths were the subject of a criminal investigation and their home had been designated a crime scene.

Fr Colum said

As port Chaplain, I have often come across accidents onboard ships and even some fatalities, but never three on the same ship.

The three men who had died were named as Bob O’Brien and Findlay McFadyan from Scotland and Robert Ebertowski from Poland. Vroon Shipping, the company which owns the ship, notified their relatives and began making arrangements for them to travel to Immingham. The next day, it was necessary for the captain of the ship to go to the mortuary and formally identified the bodies. Fr Colum accompanied him.

He reports

the captain was an experienced seafarer looking forward to retirement who seemed confused by the tragic events and broken-hearted at the loss of members of his crew.

Fr Colum Kelly

The captain returned to the ship, accompanied by Fr Colum, and gave a formal statement to the police. The two police liaison officers who had been assigned to the family of the deceased Polish seafarer asked Fr Colum to stay in close contact. The family had already requested that a Catholic priest be present whenever possible.

Fr Colum then visited the representative of the shipping company responsible for the travel arrangements for the family of the Polish seafarer. Both he and his PA were extremely upset by what had happened. They asked Fr Colum to accompany the family to the mortuary the next day. Fr Colum contacted Fr Woyjeck, a Polish priest living locally, and asked him to join them. Fr Woyjeck, himself the son of a seafarer, was happy to help.

Beata, widow of the deceased Polish seafarer, her sister and brother-in-law, also a seafarer, arrived at the mortuary in the afternoon. Fr Colum described the next hour as extremely distressing for everyone. He was glad of the presence of the Polish priest who was able to say prayers in a form familiar to the family. For Fr Colum, the remainder of the week was spent trying to support the grieving families and the crew. He was present at numerous meetings with police and other investigation teams, insurance agents, company representatives and solicitors.

He reports

these meetings proved harrowing for the families who simply wanted to know how such a tragedy had happened to their loved ones.

Beata requested a visit to the ship on which her husband had died. The Viking Islay was still a crime scene but arrangements were made for access. Fr Colum was able to visit the ship prior to Beata’s arrival to ensure that there was nothing in her husband’s cabin which might cause distress. Beata spent about 30 minutes alone in the cabin and then requested a visit to the chain locker where the accident had happened. Fr Colum and her family accompanied her and said prayers at the spot at which her husband had died.

A few days later, the family returned home to Gdynia in northern Poland. Fr Colum contacted Fr Edward Pracz, AOS port chaplain in Gdynia, who was ready to offer pastoral care to the family on their return.

Fr Colum says

I hope that nothing like this will happen again but the life of a seafarer is full of danger, both from the sea and their working environment. How wonderful then that the Church reaches out to these people through the work of our chaplains all over the world. Immingham dock is a grim and foreboding place and as I walk around it I often think that, if it were not for the work of the chaplaincies, this truly would be a Godforsaken place.