Oslofjord - Seilbåt og motorbåt har kollidert i Oslofjorden – Stor-Oslo
What happened.
On the morning of Tuesday 22 July 2025, a motorboat ran into a sailing yacht that was under sail in the Oslofjord, just south of Filtvet lighthouse off Asker, Norway. The motorboat struck the yacht midships, brought down its mast, and ended up on its foredeck. Three people were involved and all escaped injury. The motorboat's skipper, who appears to have been below deck, was treated as a suspect.
On the morning of Tuesday 22 July 2025, in fair summer weather, a sailing yacht was making its way under sail in the Oslofjord, just south of the Filtvet lighthouse off Asker and Hurum, when a motorboat ran straight into it. The collision was violent: the motorboat struck the yacht midships, brought down its mast, and came to rest up on the yacht's foredeck. Three people were involved across the two boats, and remarkably all of them escaped — uninjured but for one person described as possibly lightly hurt. The response was large, with the fire service, police, a rescue helicopter and the coast guard all sent to the scene. Police opened a case and treated the motorboat's skipper as a suspect: by their account he appears to have been below deck — reportedly in the heads — and to have believed he had the fjord to himself. A Norwegian sailing magazine used the case to warn about a string of collisions that summer tied to running on autopilot in good weather without keeping a lookout.
What it teaches.
- 1Keep a proper lookout at all times — it is the first rule of the road. This sailing yacht was run down by a motorboat whose skipper appears to have been below deck, believing the fjord was empty. Leaving the helm with no one watching is how a fast boat ends up on top of a slow one.
- 2Autopilot steers the boat; it does not keep watch. A run of collisions that summer was linked to autopilot used in fine weather with no lookout. When the pilot is on, someone must still be scanning the horizon — a clear view now is no guarantee thirty seconds from now, especially in a busy fjord.
- 3Having right of way won't stop a boat that hasn't seen you. The yacht was sailing and stood on, yet was struck midships and dismasted. Watch closing traffic, make yourself obvious, signal, and take early avoiding action if the other vessel shows no sign of altering — being in the right is cold comfort after a collision.
Where this comes from.
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Procedures involved.
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