The customs officer and the ship’s captain (and probably the surveyor and secretary, too) boarded the ship to check its paperwork. The other three customs officers began their task of searching the ship.

Ekberg and Wickberg were talking midships on the port side when they were suddenly shocked by a tremor in the ship, followed by a bang and flames. They were thrown several metres into the air and landed, almost completely unharmed, right next to the place where they had been standing and where the deck was still intact. They managed to jump into Argus, where the crew immediately cut the mooring lines from the now fiercely burning vessel and went ashore to alert the fire service.

Word of the fire disaster spread quickly, and it wasn’t long before thousands of curious spectators made their way out to the scene of the accident.

The next day, after the ship sank, a diver in heavy gear was sent down to search for the missing men. But he couldn’t find the slightest trace of them. Though the cause of the accident was never determined for sure, the disaster was likely caused by fire negligence.

The shipwreck in Svindersviken has been known for a long time, and an archaeological survey from 2008-09 found clear indications that the remains of Louise Adelaide lay at the bottom. Many of the thousands of oil barrels on board the ship are still scattered on the seabed in Svindersviken.