MV ''Mekhanik Tarasov'' was a Soviet Union-flagged cargo ship that was in service from 1976 until her sinking in 1982 in the North Atlantic Ocean. ''Mekhanik Tarasov'' was built by the Hollming shipyard of Rauma, Finland. She was laid down on 24 October 1975 and launched on 20 February 1976, and was delivered on 22 October 1976. She measured long, with a beam of , and had a service speed of from a single diesel-powered propeller. She had a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

of 4,262 GT and a

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provi ...

of 5,306 DWT. In February 1982, ''Mekhanik Tarasov'' was sailing eastbound from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with a mixed cargo of

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

and about of

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when she encountered a severe storm. On the afternoon of 15 February, containers shifted in the heavy seas and punctured a ballast tank, causing the ship to list. During the afternoon, with the list reaching 30 degrees, the crew contacted the ship's shore agents requesting help before then declining assistance later in the evening from the Faroese long liner ''Sigurfari''. Shortly before midnight, the crew reported flooding, apparently caused by a damaged ventilation cowl that allowed water ingress into the ship. She sank early in the morning of 16 February about east of Newfoundland, with only five crewmembers rescued by ''Sigurfari''. The survivors were transferred to the

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icebreaker ''Sir Humphrey Gilbert''; the ''Sigurfari'', along with the Soviet vessel ''Ivan Dvorsky'', located 21 bodies from the crew of ''Mekhanik Tarasov''. The remaining 12 members of the 37-person crew were never found, and the search was called off on 19 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mekhanik Tarasov Merchant ships of the Soviet Union 1976 ships Maritime incidents in 1982 Ships built in Rauma, Finland