KONGSFJORD

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Latest news

Body found in trawl identified

The police have identified the body, which was found in the trawl of the 'Kongsfjord'. On April 22 the police state dthat it was Latvian Romans Solovjovs (38), who was found south-east of Svalbard. The next of kin have been notified. There was no final autopsy report, but the cause of death was stated to be drowning. The Havøy Kystfiske was grateful for the discovery of Solojovs and expressed their thanks for the efforts of the crew of the trawler for finding and bringing the deceased ashore. They hoped that this finding would give the police the answers they need to close the investigation, and bring some form of closure to the Solovjovs' family. Solovjovs was reported missing to the police following a report of a man overboard on the snow crab vessel "Hunter" off Svalbard on Jan 30, 2023. According to the accident report from February 2023, Solovjovs fell overboard while preparing the rails. Following the accident, the Accident Investigation Board notified the Norwegian Maritime Directorate of what they believed to be safety-critical conditions on board. As a result, the ship was detained in Tromsø until orders from the Norwegian Maritime Directorate were rectified. In that connection, all certificates were confiscated and declared invalid due to serious security discrepancies. The background was precisely the fatal accident. Owner Jøran Helde in Havøy Kystfiske, who owns the vessel, complained about this decision from the directorate. He then stated that the shipping company disagreed with a large number of findings in the audit report, and that it was therefore appealed. The case has not been finally decided. The ship remained docked in Ålesund. The shipping company had to pay half a million Norwegian crowns after it was discovered that the ship had too many foreign employees in the crew.

Deceased person sent to Tromsø for an autopsy

The body who came up with the "Kongsfjord" late on April 12 was now being checked against several missing persons cases in northern Norway. The deceased person has been sent to Tromsø for an autopsy on April 16. The Troms police was carrying out a so-called ID case where you look at characteristics on the body, clothes and other things that may have been found on the person concerned. A DNA test is also done. So far there was no idea how long the person in question has been in the water. There are have a number of missing persons cases both in the district and in general that will be investigated.

Crew found body in trawl

The 'Kongsfjord' headed from Hopendjupet to Hammerfest after the discovery of a body on the evening of April 12, 2024, in the trawl in connection with shrimp trawling on the Hopendypet off the island of Hopen, far north in the Barents Sea. The police and the Central Rescue Service in Northern Norway were notified, and the vessel with a crew of 20 on board immediately set course for Hammerfest, where it arrived on April 14 at 2 a.m. The Troms police district took care of the dead person then and investigated the matter. The ship set sail again at 4.15 a.m.