Mundogas

Although the three-year-old ship felt new and safe to the crew, the atmosphere on board became tense due to the dense fog. Just north of Grundkallen, the Finnish vessel Saara suddenly emerged from the fog and struck Mundogas on the starboard side, causing extensive damage. She almost immediately heeled over. Saara suffered major damage to her bow.

Five minutes later, the ship sank stern first. But by then, everyone on board was safe in the lifeboats. They were rescued shortly afterwards by a German ship. Despite the damage, Saara made it to Rauma for repairs.

But Mundogas did not sink completely. When its stern hit the bottom at a depth of 65 metres, the ship was left floating on its cargo with its bow about 10 metres above the surface. To prevent other ships from colliding with the wreck, warning buoys were placed in the fairway.

Salvage vessels quickly arrived on scene to begin the salvage operation. Air was pumped into the ship to lighten the hull from the seabed, but the attempts failed. Mundogas remained on the bottom, and after a while sank completely.

In 1969, the ship was sold to a group of Finns interested in salvaging it. Despite protests from the Swedish authorities, the plan was to release the ammonia from the tanks and fill them with air instead. In this way, they thought the ship would resurface. The attempt failed. But as a result of these efforts, in November 1969 one of the tanks was found floating in the Åland archipelago.

Today, Mundogas remains at a depth of 65 metres. If and when the tanks will be released from the ship remains uncertain.