New Sonar Image Shows Sunken ‘Cemfjord’ Resting On Seabed

An ROV returns images of the sunken MV Cemfjord east of Pentland Firth. Photo credit: MAIB

The UK Maritime Accident Investigation Branch has released a new sonar image of the sunken MV Cemfjord resting on its side on the seabed off Scotland as the branch continues its investigation into the fatal sinking.

In a statement posted to social media Tuesday, MAIB said that it has now completed the multibeam side scan sonar and ROV surveys of the cement carrier. An image released shows the vessel lying on its port side, almost completely intact.

The Cyprus-flagged MV Cemfjord mysteriously foundered January 2nd off the north coast of Scotland with the loss of all eight crewmembers. No distress signal was ever received from the vessel and its upturned hull was spotted a day later by passengers of the ferry, leaving many questions about what exactly had happened. To date, no trace of the eight missing crewmembers, comprised of seven Polish and one Filipino, have been found.

The shipwreck was located a few days later lying on the seabed east of the Pentland Firth. Searchers also located a liferaft believed to be from the vessel, but there was no indication that it had been used.

The ship was sailing from Aalborg Denmark to Runcorn, Cheshire in western England when it sank in severe weather with 2,000 tonnes of cement.