MS Boye Nilsen was a small trawler, with room for a crew of sixteen. When it traveled north to Myre for the first time in July 1964, it stopped at Bergen, and there it was praised in Fiskeribladet as the most well-equipped fishing vessel of its type.
People in Øksnes in Vesterålen have always made their living off fishing, and they are naturally proud of this. There is a red thread running through the history of the area, through the great medieval fishing village of Langenes, Nyksund around the turn of the century and onwards to today’s Myre harbour, and this thread is the fisheries.
With the wave of centralization in Norway in the 1950s and 60s and the new ship technology, Myre havn emerged as the center of the municipality, and with it, a modern fishing industry and trawler fleet.
One of the shipping companies that ran fishing trawlers from Myre was AS Sommerøyfisk. They contracted the 109-foot-long MS Boye Nilsen from Gravdal Shipbuilding and Timber Business in Sunnhordaland. The boat was delivered in July 1964.
After the maiden voyage to Myre via Bergen, it went straight out fishing. The crew reported some problems with the refrigeration machinery on board.
In January 1965, MS Boye Nilsen set out with a crew of 14. They were supposed to be fifteen, but Erling Nilsen, the brother of the owner and shipmate on board, Martin Nilsen, withdrew at the last minute.
At first, it seemed like everything was going well. Several local trawlers were in contact with them over the weekend in the transition between January and February. They moved from Langenesegga and towards Fugløybanken. It wasn’t until Monday 1 February that someone started to think that something was wrong. At that time, no one had heard or seen anything of MS Boye Nilsen since Sunday. Several attempts to make contact on Sunday evening had not succeeded.
A smaller search with five ships, including two rescue ships, was launched. No luck.
They made the asumption that everything was probably in order. No emergency calls had been registered.
Tuesday came and went without any development
A full alarm was sounded on Wednesday. MS Boye Nilsen’s lifeboat was found adrift. It had not been used. Two life belts were also found adrift.
A large-scale search apparatus was set in motion. In addition to the fishing boats out on the field, both rescue boats, naval vessels and an aircraft were connected in the search for MS Boye Nilsen. A total of 72 ships were involved in the search. 217 people participated. No casualties or survivors were found.
On the 14th of February, a memorial service was held in the hall at the school in Myre. Everyone on board was presumed dead, but those left behind had no grave to visit. The crew left twelve widows, and as many as 23 children who had lost their fathers.
It wasn’t until the autumn, in October, machinist Johannes Petrus Johansen was found dead on an islet in Karlsøy.
What had happened? How could this newly built, well-equipped ship go down without so much as a distress call?
On March the 5th, an official inquiry was held at Myre. Without a single survivor who could testify to what had actually happened on board, it was difficult to come to a definite conclusion, but the testimonies of those who had previously been out with MS Boye Nilsen, and people who had spoken to the skipper on board, Arnt Nilsen, left an eerie impression.
MS Boye Nilsen had the trawl winch mounted all the way forward with the mast. It weighed a whopping five tons. It was said that the weight distribution of the boat made it unstable at sea.
Even before the trawl winch had been installed, the ship had been perceived as forward-heavy, and witnesses described how the ship, with some fish in the cargo, stuck deep ahead and was difficult to control, that the sea washed over the deck, even in good weather.
It was said that skipper Arnt Nilsen had expressed that he was looking forward to the fishing season being over, and the winch could be removed.
We cannot know for sure exactly what happened to the crew on board MS Boye Nilsen. Perhaps it is true that the boat was pushed into the sea as a result of poor weight distribution, aggravated by the winch. Maybe something else happened. The accident left a wound in the Øksnes community, and many families who were never healed again.
The lifebuoy from MS Boye Nilsen is among the wreckage found after the sinking and is today part of the collection of Øksnes Museum.
We remember the fourteen who perished in the sinking of the Boye Nilsen.
Sources:
Fiskeribladet, Wednesday 22 July 1964
Fiskeribladet, Saturday 6 February 1965
Harstad Tidende, Friday 5 March 1965
Lofotposten 5 March 1965
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