During the grounding near the island of Järsö in the Åland archipelago on 20 September, the crew on the command bridge discovered that the ship was not behaving as usual.

The vessel turned towards the edge of the fairway area, which caused the first bottom feeling southeast of Hjulgrund.

After the ship’s draft in the bow increased and it tilted to the right, the master on board decided to drive it up on the shore at Järsö.

“As a result of a technical fault in Amorella’s power control system, the right angles of the right propeller were moved by themselves to full reversing position as the vessel approached the narrow passage at Hjulgrund,” announces Finnish Accident Investigation Board.

The investigation continues and the entire report, including the investigation plan, will be published in the summer of 2021.

On Wednesday, it was also announced that Viking Grace, which ran aground in Mariehamn on Åland this weekend, can be taken into service again.

After investigation, it turned out that only one propeller was damaged in connection with the accident, Viking Line states. Neither the ship’s hull nor the bottom were damaged. After being towed away, the ship was able to take its own engine to Turku, and then on to Naantali, where the propeller damage is being repaired. No people were injured in the accident.

Viking Grace will resume traffic on Sunday 29 November, departing from Turku just before 9 pm.