Stornoway Coastguard News

A 91-meter cargo ship which ran aground on Scotland’s west coast has been refloated.   General cargo vessel Fri Sea grounded during docking maneuvers at Corpach on Saturday, March 7, Stornoway Coastguard reported.   The ship, operated by the Kopervik Group, was refloated the following day.   No injuries or pollution have been reported, and the crew has remained aboard the vessel.

A 2,600-tonne cargo ship has run aground while docking close to berth at Corpach on Loch Linnhe at Fort William on the west coast of Scotland in windy conditions. Stornoway Coastguard said the alarm was raised this morning when the 91-metre ship Fri Sea went aground at high water at Corpach. Seven crew members remain on board the ship and there are no signs of any injuries, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said. The Secretary Of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention is aware and is monitoring the situation, said the spokeswoman of MCA. It looks as if the strong winds that were blowing may have caught her when she was almost stopped in the water. The coastguard said it was likely an attempt to refloat the vessel would be made at high water on Sunday.

Stornoway Coastguard was contacted this morning by the general cargo vessel LYSBLINK SEAWAYS reporting that they had gone aground north of the Isle of Mull, near Kilchoan, at approximately 1.50am. She has 9 people on board and the Tobermory RNLI lifeboat has been standing by the vessel on scene overnight. \ Currently the crew remain on board and will await tugs arriving on scene.  The Maritime and Coastguard Agency have tasked the Emergency Towing Vessel Heracles to proceed to the area. The vessel’s owners have appointed a salvage company and a commercial tug. There is no report of pollution. The vessel was bound from Belfast to Skogn in Norway when she ran aground.

A cargo ship, MV Fri Ocean, has run aground approximately 2.5 miles south of Tobermory, Sound of Mull. Stornoway Coastguard received a 999 call just after 6 a.m. this morning reporting that a 90-meter vessel carrying wood had run aground on rocks. The RNLI Tobermory all-weather lifeboat and the Tobermory Coastguard Rescue Team have been sent to the scene. Norwegian shipping company Høyergruppen AS's small cargo ship MV Fri Ocean was heading from Fort William, Scotland to Varberg, Sweden. The seven crew on board are said to be safe and well, with no reported injuries.

The passenger ship 'Serenissima' grounded Monday night in Oban Bay, was refloated the next day & awaits underwater inspection. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency reported that the Stornoway Coastguard was alerted and was told that the ship had ran aground on sand and gravel. On board for the voyage from Ireland towards Oban were 61 passengers and 51 crew. There were no reported injuries, no reported pollution and no signs of water ingress. The RNLI lifeboat from Oban was on standby to assist if needed. The Oban Sector Manager and the Oban Coastguard Rescue Team were also on scene.

A 128 ft. commercial tug working for British Aerospace, on contract to the Royal Navy, ran aground in the Hebrides on Tuesday, September 7. Stornoway Coastguard received a call from the Liverpool registered tug ‘Vanguard’ at 5:36 p.m. informing them they had an ingress of water and were going to attempt to beach the vessel. There were eight persons aboard. Their position was half a mile north of Rona, near Skye. The Coastguard helicopter ‘Mike Uniform’ from Stornoway was scrambled and the Portree RNLI lifeboat was requested to launch by the Coastguard. A broadcast was issued to shipping and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel ‘Fort George’ responded.

A doctor and a nurse were last night treating 24 foreign crewmen with suspected food poisoning on board a cargo ship off the Western Isles, the U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency reported. Earlier, six of the worst-hit crewmen were evacuated by the Stornoway lifeboat to hospital in Stornoway after the captain of the 50,000-ton Yeoman Bridge became concerned for their well being. However, after the GP and a police officer were winched on board the vessel by Coastguard helicopter to assess their condition, it was decided that it was not necessary to take the crew off, but to treat them on board. The Western Isles Major Incident Response Team had been looking at all the options in case a full evacuation of the ship was necessary.