With a load full of pulp, the cargo steamship Venersborg was on its way from Sundsvall to Naestved, Denmark, on 29 December 1944. The crew consisted of 18 men and two women. Shortly after passing Utklippan, the ship was shaken by a powerful explosion. The crew immediately gathered at the lifeboats, several dressed only in nightwear and without shoes. When the lifeboats reached land after many hours, only four men were alive. By the time they were found, three of them had died. Only the sailor Bertil Knutsson survived.
When the ship departed Stockholm on 28 December, there were 1 400 tonnes of pulp bale on board, of which 151 tonnes were stowed on deck. At 19.30 on 29 December, Bertil Knutsson got off his shift as helmsman and sat down in the mess hall to stuff his winter socks. He barely had time to start before a powerful explosion erupted. He rushed out on deck, saw the damage inflicted on the ship, and realised that it would soon sink.
When the lifeboats were launched, one of then smashed against the side of the hull. The other one ended up in the water undamaged, and the entire crew made it on board. Almost all of them were lightly dressed, most having come straight from their beds. The small motorboat came loose and eight men climbed into it, including Knutsson. The boat’s engine wouldn’t start, so the lifeboat set sail and took the motorboat in tow.
When dawn came, Knutsson noticed that four people were sitting up in the lifeboat while the others were lying down on the floorboard. The cook hung lifeless over the railing, with ice-cold water steadily washing over her.
The waves intensified in the morning as the boats approached the small islet Busören. The hawser between the boats had been cut to avoid their crashing into each other in the rough waters. The lifeboat failed to successfully approach the breakers, toppling over and causing everyone on board to perish. The motorboat managed the surf and stopped 5-6 metres from the islet. Four men succeeded in crawling ashore, frozen to the bone and exhausted. The others were dead.
Knutsson rigged up a pennant on an oar before darkness descended. The next night, Knutsson’s three comrades died. Knutsson took shelter from the icy winds behind a door he found on the islet.
On New Year’s Day, a seabird hunter saw the pennant and quickly made his way out to Busören where he found Knutsson, thoroughly drained of energy. Although he survived the shipwreck, he paid a heavy price. He was never able to return to sea because of severe injuries to his legs.
