News
Cargo ship aground on Swona
Craig Taylor 02/01/2007 10:03:00
A NORWEGIAN cargo vessel with seven crew onboard is aground on Swona this morning.
Aberdeen Coastguard were alerted to the incident in the Pentland Firth shortly before 5 am this morning. The vessel, the 2652 ton, 1977 built, 79 metre long 'Sunna' was reported to be aground by the bow on rocks in the Pentland Firth on Swona near South Ronaldsay. There are seven crew aboard the double hulled ship.
The crew had attempted to go astern after the grounding and pull the vessel off but had not managed to do so. The crew were now checking around the vessel for damage.
Coastguards say that there are no signs that the vessel is taking water. The vessel is carrying 37000 litres of fuel oil and she is fully loaded with 1900 tons of ferrosilicon which it was taking from Grundartangi in Iceland to Spurn Head on the River Humber. The weather on scene are south westerly winds of force 6 with excellent visibility.
The Coastguard Emergency Towing Vessel, the 'Anglian Prince' was immediately sent to the scene and was set to arrive at around 9.30 a.m. this morning. The Coastguard counter pollution team was also informed.
Longhope lifeboat has also been despatched to the scene to standby in case of any crew evacuation and an aerial surveillance aircraft has also been readied up for first light.
The Coastguard also said that the Orkney Harbour authorities have despatched two further tugs, the 'Erlend' and 'Harald' to the scene as a precaution as the site of the grounding is within their port limits and they have set up an emergency control room to oversee any future salvage activities.