Fish factory ship · lost 1994 · Shetland, United Kingdom
Pionersk
The Pionersk was a Soviet fish factory ship of 12,639 tons gross, 165.5 metres long, launched at Gdansk in 1963 and owned by Zapbrya. Ships of her kind, known in Shetland as Klondykers, lay at anchor offshore for weeks so that Russian trawlers could land their catch for processing without the long run home.
She was moored off Bressay awaiting the fleet when a force 10 gale parted her lines and drove her ashore on the Ness of Trebister, south of Lerwick. The Lerwick lifeboat and a helicopter brought her whole crew safely to land. Oil from her tanks fouled the coast and fed island demands for tighter checks on such ships.
She stayed on the rocks for nearly three months before a storm broke her up; her stern is the most intact part of the wreckage.
- Type
- Fish factory ship
- Lost
- 1994
- Tonnage
- 12,639 GRTdiesel
- Length
- 165.5 m21.33 m beam
- Depth
- 20 m
- Location
- Shetland, United KingdomNorth Sea
Deeper than 50 of the 185 wrecks on the map with a recorded depth.
History and LossLost 1994 · Shetland, United Kingdom.
Early in the winter of 1994 she lay at anchor near Bressay, waiting for the trawlers. When a force 10 gale tore through on 30th October her moorings parted, and she was carried onto the Ness of Trebister, where she stuck. It took the Lerwick lifeboat and a rescue helicopter three and a half hours to land all 155 crew.
Serious defects had been found at an inspection months before, though none is recorded as contributing to her loss.
Lost 1994.
Condition of the Wreck
Intactness
She stayed on the rocks, in plain sight, until a fierce storm destroyed her on 18th January 1995. Her wreckage tumbles down a rocky slope to about 20 metres, with the bow showing above water at low tide; the stern, lowest of all, survives best.
Notable Features
- Stern section, the most intact part
- Bow breaking the surface at low tide
- Wreckage tumbling down a rocky slope
Sea-Surface Temperature by Month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface temp | 8.1° | 7.3° | 7.1° | 7.4° | 8.8° | 10.6° | 12.3° | 12.8° | 12.2° | 11.3° | 10.3° | 9° |
Additional Details8 further fields held for this wreck and not shown above.
- Propulsion
- Diesel
- Loss date
- 1994
- Latitude
- 60.1200° N
- Longitude
- 1.1775° W
- Water body
- North Sea
- War grave
- Not recorded
- Protected
- No
- Permit required
- No
Sources and VerificationEvery fact on this page traces to a published source.
- Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore, NRHE)inspire.hes.scot · Official record5 facts
- UK Hydrographic Officedatahub.admiralty.co.uk · Official record3 facts
- NOAA / NASA JPL MUR SST v4.1coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov · Institution or archive1 fact
- Scottish Shipwrecksscottishshipwrecks.com · Secondary source9 facts
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Historic Environment Scotland.
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right.
- JPL MUR MEaSUREs Project. GHRSST Level 4 MUR Global Foundation Sea Surface Temperature Analysis (v4.1). PO.DAAC. https://doi.org/10.5067/GHGMR-4FJ04
A further 6 fields were derived from the wreck’s recorded position rather than taken from a source.
Licences and credits for the open data used on this site are on the Attribution page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Pionersk?
Pionersk is the wreck of a fish factory ship, off Shetland, United Kingdom, at 20 metres. Pionersk was lost in 1994.
How deep is the Pionersk?
Pionersk lies at approximately 20 metres, North Sea, Shetland.
How did the Pionersk sink?
The cause of the loss of Pionersk is not recorded in the sources held; the loss is dated 1994.