Ship Topples in Dry Dock in Scotland Injuring 25

March 22, 2023

The U.S. Navy-owned research vessel Petrel has toppled over at Dales Marine's Leith dry dock facility in Edinburgh, Scotland. The ship was previously a Subsea 7 offshore support vessel before being converted into a research vessel for late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc., who used the vessel to discover a number of long-lost shipwrecks. It was later sold to the U.S. Navy. (Photo: @ Tomafc83 / Twitter)

Twenty-five people were injured when a ship came off its holding and tipped on its side in a dry dock in Leith, Scotland on Wednesday, the Scottish Ambulance Service said, with 15 taken to hospital.

Ten people were treated and discharged at the scene, the emergency service added in a statement.

Pictures posted on Twitter showed a large ship propped up against the wall of a dry dock. A local councilor posting on the social media site said strong winds had caused the incident.

Scottish medical authorities at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, which received 11 patients, urged people not to attend its accident and emergency department as it would be busy dealing with the victims of the incident.

Five ambulances, an air ambulance, three trauma teams and other specialist responders had earlier attended the scene after the accident took place at about 0830 GMT.

Edinburgh Police said a boat had become dislodged from its holding at Imperial Dock in Leith, near Edinburgh.

(Reuters - Reporting by Farouq Suleiman, writing by Sarah Young; editing by William James)