Two men lost consciousness in the hold of the ship Hoffellid SU due to lack of oxygen last weekend while they were preparing to unload the catch, pearlside, in Fáskrúdsfjördur, east Iceland.
Fishing in Iceland. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
They were both taken to hospital where they were kept on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. One of the men was discharged from intensive care yesterday, but the other one is still being kept on a ventilator, Morgunbladid reports.
After a member of the unloading team went down to the hold, the steersman noticed that something was wrong and went after him with an oxygen mask.
Once inside the hold he removed the mask from himself and placed it on his unconscious colleague, which resulted in him also losing consciousness.
The accident is under investigation by the police and the Icelandic Marine Accident Investigation Board (IMAIB).
Jón Ingólfsson, director of the IMAIB, said the ship’s oxygen indicator had been broken and in repair at the time of the accident. “This is not the first time that an accident like this has occurred. We have to deal with the problem.”
A similar accident happened in Akranes last year. The cause of the accident was lack of oxygen due to decomposing pearlside, which released gases that overtook the oxygen. “We must learn from this,” Ingólfsson said.
Click here to read about the accident in Akranes.
