Extreme rescue on the third day

the Storm and ten feet high waves since Thursday evening, headed a relief operation for a long period for a vessel from the Arctic Command in the Defense.

Inspektionsskibet Hvidbjørn is in the Monday evening still in the process of towing the trawler Polar Aassik in the country, after the ship's engine put out about 40 nautical miles south of the entrance to Prins Christianssund in the very south of Greenland.

Polar Aassik, which is owned by Polar Seafood, the eight-man board.

the Ship took on Thursday to a defect in the machine, so that the motor could no longer propel it forward, and then had to inspektionsskibet Hvidbjørnen come out.

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Early Friday morning came the inspektionsskibet out, but since the weather was so bad, that it could not be possible to put time in a slæbeoperation.

'When Hvidbjørnen arrive to havaristen, is the weather bad. It blows, there is the high seas and the classifier is poor. The weather forecast promises storm, and it is estimated from the skibschefen on Hvidbjørnen, to a slæbeoperation will be able to be with danger for both the ships and the crew members,' writes Ida Suhr Birkemose, there is a press officer in the Arctic Forsvarskommando, in an email to Ekstra Bladet.

instead of lugging Polar Aassik against the country, had Hvidbjørnen keep by the side of the trawler in barely two days before the storm had subsided and the waves dropped from ten meters to four-five metres.

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At the time was the ships ended 70 nautical miles, corresponding to 130 kilometres, from Cape Farewell. It managed, however, to get a slæbetrosse over on the Polar Aassik, so inspektionsskibet could begin to drag it toward land.

'The most difficult part of such an operation is the risk that something will go wrong. The arctic Command's redningscentral has responsibility for redningsoperationerne in the waters around Greenland, and it goes without saying that the rescue operations in an arctic environment implies a high probability that something can go wrong,' writes Ida Suhr Birkemose.

'Hvidbjørnens decision not to tow the trawler Polar Aassik on Friday, and just follow the example, the operation in the south, past Cape Farewell is, therefore, a clear expression of a balanced care to both the ships and the crews. With winds at 30 m/s and ten-meter high waves, one must be careful.'

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Polar Aassik must be hauled hundreds of miles to get all the way to Nuuk. Photo: Inspektionsskibet Hvidbjørnen.

Since Sunday, Hvidbjørn and Polar Aassik been on the way to Qaqortoq with a speed of three to four knots, the equivalent of five to seven kilometers an hour.

Quite smoothly, however, it is not gone. Monday morning jumped slæbetrossen namely, so inspektionsskibet had to put a new one out. And with the Polar Aassik in tow is the drain on the Hvidbjørnen so large that it has been completely perched on a heel of 40 degrees.

According to the plan the trawler towed into the port of Nuuk. When Hvidbjørnen and the Polar Aassik comes in to Qaqurtoq, a second tug is scheduled to take over slæbearbejdet.

To redningsoperationen takes such a long time, however, are not unusual in Greenland. It is due according to the Ida Suhr Birkemose the very large distance and sparse infrastructure in large parts of the country.