Eight Rescued from Sinking Tug

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.

Angus Murray, Stornoway Coastguard Watch Manager, says:“The vessel has now been beached on the Island of Rona and is lying at an angle of forty-five degrees. All eight crew are safely ashore on the island of Rona and I am pleased to say they have sustained no injuries. The MCA tug ‘Anglian Prince’ will be on scene shortly to monitor the situation; however there is no sign of pollution.”