On January 13, 1998, the Norwegian cargo ship Altnes collided with Shannon, an even larger cargo ship from Cyprus, just northeast of the island of Anholt in Kattegatt. Visibility at the time of the incident was severely limited by fog.

The 17 people aboard Altnes entered the lifeboats and were picked up by the crew of Shannon. Altnes, which was carrying a load of coke at the time of sinking, suffered a large hole in its side during the collision and began taking in water. Shortly thereafter, the ship listed and capsized.

Attempts were made to move Altnes from the fairway, but the wind increased, and a couple of days later, the ship sank late in the evening just off the fairway. Shannon escaped with severe damage to the bow and was forced to enter port for repairs.

In September 1998, oil was salvaged from the wreck as there were suspicions that 50 tons of oil still remained in twelve tanks onboard. The oil was recovered using hose suction, a technique known as ‘Hot tap’.

Today the ship rests on its starboard side. It is a really large wreck with some trawl and quite a bit of fishing lines that can be hard to see. In the aft house, there are many exciting places to peek into, and the large propeller and rudder at the stern are impressive.