The cargo ship was launched on February 22, 1964 as the fifth ship in the series with the name Käthe Niederkirchner . On July 31, 1964, the Warnow shipyard delivered the ship with the hull number 515 to the Deutsche Seereederei Rostock. The ship's second voyage ended tragically with total loss.
The downfall
On August 11, 1964, the ship left the Cuban port of Matanzas with the direct destination Rostock. It had loaded a full load of white sugar for the GDR and resale in neighboring socialist countries. The home course, as was often chosen at the time, led north past the British Isles into the North Sea, through the Skagerrak into the Baltic Sea . On August 23, 1964, the ship was half a mile from the Pentland Skerries lighthouse off the Scottish coast in the Pentland Firth . Fog blocked the view. On the west side of the Muckle Skerry it ran aground and overturned due to strong displacement from the current. It dropped to the position of 58 ° 41 ' N , 2 ° 56' W58.688745 -2.934993 . The crew, consisting of 40 people, nine women and one child on board, were able to save themselves on Muckle Skerry with the ship's motor lifeboat. Here the lighthouse keepers of the Pentland-Skerry lighthouse descended the cliffs and directed the lifeboat to a safe landing stage.
Tragedy of loss
In order to save travel days, the political officer suggested to the captain not to drive around the Pentland Islands, but through the middle. Corresponding map material was not on the ship. Nothing was known about the current there. Only a loss of speed to just 5 knots above ground was found. However, the machine ran at full speed. In poor visibility and a strong current displacement, the deeply laden ship ran aground and ran aground. According to Scottish information, never before had such a large ship chosen this course. The time savings hoped for became a total loss.
literature
German shipping companies Volume 23 VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock Author collective Verlag Gert Uwe Detlefsen ISBN 3-928473-81-6 page 168
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