On 7 January 2017, VESTURLAND was fishing monkfish approximately 100 nautical miles west of the Faroe Islands. At approximately 1200, smoke was detected on the forward part of the vessel's main deck. Within ten minutes after the crewmembers had mustered, it became clear to the master that it was not possible to extinguish the fire and that the vessel had to be evacuated. He called for assistance and via the MRCC a rescue helicopter was sent to evacuate the crewmembers from VESTURLAND. Approximately two hours later, all crewmembers were hoisted from the vessel into the rescue helicopter. The vessel burnt out and was towed to shore where it was declared a constructive total loss.
The investigation set out to establish the origin and cause of the fire with the purpose of explaining how the fire created a situation which was unmanageable by the crew and, consequently, resulted in the evacuation of the vessel. The scope of the investigation was the technical circumstances related to the cause of the fire and the crewmembers' capacity to cope with the fire.
The report can be downloaded in PDF format here.